Trials Of Attachment
by RawnChie14
Summary: After a typical day in Konoha Village, love sweeps over all the young Genin. Coincidentally, all of them happen to experience love all in the same night. A weird series of events is afoot... Woo Sah... It's finished, R
1. Wake Up Damn It!

**Trials of Attachment**

Section 1: Wake Up Damn it!

Drool dripped from the side of Naruto's mouth, as he laid across his bed in a disheveled manner. The little night cap he had on was now draped over his eyes, keeping the sun from waking him. Suddenly, there began a loud rapping on his door.

"Hey, moron! What the hell?! It's so goddamn late now!" Naruto rolled himself sluggishly facing the door.

Saying quietly to himself, "Sasuke...?" Naruto took a peer out the window, and saw how high the sun was in the sky. It was about noon, and Sasuke's anger finally sunk in to Naruto's head. "The MISSION! I'm late!" He shot out of bed in a savage hurry.

When he was finally ready he tore out of his room, and saw Sasuke and Sakura leaning against the wall opposite his room, with fuming looks slapped on their face.

"Good afternoon, ass. Can we get going now?" Sakura uttered without flinching much.

Rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, "Lets, heh..."

Both Sakura and Sasuke continue on without Naruto before he opens his eyes to notice.

"He...HEY! Wait for me! Naruto!" he yelled in pursuit of his teammates. "Guysssss!"


	2. You're Late!

Section 2: You're Late!

After a brisk walk across Konoha Village to reach their mission meeting ground, they find that their sensei, Kakashi, isn't there. Both Sasuke and Sakura give a stare towards Naruto upon the realization that Kakashi wasn't present. Naruto just smiles back nervously.

"You're all late."

The trio turns around to see Kakashi, leaning forward with his book held right below his chin.

"But I'm still glad you three showed up." He said, with his eyes arched up happily.

"Kakashi-sensei!" screamed all three.

"Holy crap Kakashi-sensei, you scared me!" Naruto said, pointing at the amused face of Kakashi.

"Heh, wuss." Sasuke added. Naruto flung himself around towards Sasuke.

"HEY! I'm no wuss! What are you talking about, idiot?!"

"Humph... you're the only idiot on this team." Sasuke retaliated with, while turning away from Naruto. Fire rose out of the eyes of Naruto, was still shaking his fist in fury.

"I think we should commence our mission now like ninjas, instead of arguing like children." Kakashi said to interrupt.

Naruto huffed, and turned away from Sasuke. "_Who does that jerk think he is?_" Gritting his teeth, "_I'll show him!_"

The mission was simple enough for Kakashi and his team, as they usually were. Naruto and Sasuke fought over the glory, Sakura ogles Sasuke in every possible way, Naruto struggles to gain Sakura's attention, and Kakashi sits in the corner reading naughty novels. Same old... same old.


	3. Habits And Reminders

Section 3: Habits and Reminders

It was getting late though, and Kakashi seemed pretty content with the missions they've completed in the day. The walked along the forest road right outside of Konoha Village when Kakashi halted up the group. He remained silent, keeping the three home-eager genin on the edge of their seats.

"Wait, I have one more mission for you guys..." Their faces looked as if they could melt off in disappointment. Kakashi sat there with a stern look in his eye, until he started leaning forward. Then with a crack of amusement he utters, "Just kidding."

Sakura gasps and say, "Kakashi-sensei, how could you!" with a smile on her face.

"I'm sorry, just had to end today's missions on a good note." Kakashi then turns away from the three flipping open his little novel (once again), and begins walking away. "I'll see you all tomorrow." He stops and turns his head to Naruto's direction. "Bright and early..."

Knowing he was getting singled out, Naruto jumps up saying, "No problem, you bother heard him.... Bright and early! I've got it!" Pointing towards Sakura and Sasuke, "You might want to worry about them though, becau..."

Naruto was interrupted with a fist to the face via Sakura. "What are you talking about you oaf! You were the sack of rice who wouldn't get up this morning in the first place!"

Kakashi chuckled to himself. "I'll see you later." While walking away, he thought to himself, "_It's never a dull moment with those three._"

Naruto shot up rubbing his reddened cheek, when he suddenly heard the bellowing of his empty belly. He reacted by reaching in his pocket for the frog shaped money pouch he was so, so proud of. He fished his finger around the pouch, and looked up smiling. "Ramen-time!"

"_Ugh_," Sakura though, "_does he eat anything else but ramen? He's going to be unhealthy is he keeps that up..._" Naruto prances along into the village happily with his new found plans for the night. Sakura watches him leave, when she turns around with her eyes closed and a smile on her face. "So looks like it's just..." She then notices that Sasuke isn't there anymore. She just stands still for a moment, and drops her head, sighing. "...me."


	4. Busted!

Section 4: Busted!

In the Ramen bar at the town center, Naruto sat stuffing his face as if he hadn't eaten for weeks. Five empty bowls laid next to him, as he was working on the sixth. In the distance across the street, Hinata was peeking out from a dark doorway in Naruto's direction. Her face was flushed and she was smiling and faintly giggling to herself.

"Hinata-chan...?"

Hinata panics and turns around quickly, with sweat beginning to seep out of her forehead. She turns to see Shino standing there puzzled, and with one eyebrow arched up. "Shino-sama, I... I..."

"Don't worry, Hinata-chan." Shino looks out towards Naruto, who is continuing with the savage eating of his Ramen. "I understand how you feel."

Hinata gasps at Shino's awareness, then drops her head and blushes with embarrassment. "Thank you Shino-sama."

Out of the back darkness, Kiba abruptly busts out and pops his head out from between Shino and Hinata. "Hey! What'd I miss?!"

Hinata continues to look down to the ground, and Shino glares at Kiba silently. "Hinata, how about you tell me everything upstairs." Hinata just nods in affirmation, with a cheerful, teary smile. Kiba turns his head back and forth between the two in confusion.

"What? What?!" Kiba turns and watches them head upstairs, while he sits at the bottom with a blank look. "What was that all about?" Akamaru pops out of Kiba's hood whimpering. "I know. I know. We get no respect!" Smiles confidently, "but we've got each other right Akamaru?!" Akamaru just bounces up barking happily.


	5. Extra Angry?

Section 5: Extra Angry?

Naruto throws the last empty bowl to the top of the pile, and dishes out his money. "Thank you so much! It was delicious! Mmm!"

The old cook behind the counter laughs. "No, no thank you son! You give me great business!"

Naruto waves and heads down the street grinning, and holding his stomach full of  
Ramen. While heading down the street, he spots Shikamaru sitting at a bench, staring up at the sky oddly. Naruto had a befuddled look, before he decided to head over and interrupted Shikamaru's daze. "Shi...ka...ma...ruuuuuu"

"Shut up I'm busy..."

"...uuuuuuu..."

"Will you please?! I'm busy looking at the clouds." He looks up and smirks.

"Hmm... they're just clouds." Squinting and looking up to the sky skeptically, "they don't look too special to me."

"Heh... you would say that Naruto... " Ino comes from down the street holding flowers she's delivering, and notices the two looking up to the sky.

"Naruto? Shikamaru? Together? What's the occasion?" she said questionably.

"This idiot came up to me, were not friends or anything..."

"Hey?! That was cruel to say."

Ino looks to Naruto, then Shikamaru in a concerned fashion. "Yea, c'mon Shikamaru, you're never that mean..."

"...and what does it matter to you anyways? You need to mind your own business, both of you." Shikamaru responded coldly.

"Huh? What the hell did Ino do to you, you jerk?!" screamed Naruto, waving his fist angrily. Ino stood there blankly, with a disconcert look on her face.

"I'm sorry, I was just saying..."

"No one cares, now if you could leave, and take this idiot with you, so I can be by myself."

Ino looks down the ground silently, and decides to leave. She turns away and continues on with her deliveries, with her head hanging down a little. Naruto watches her leave with a concerned look.

"What the hell was that for?!" Naruto said pointing towards Ino.

"Eh, she was annoying me. Girls and women mean trouble." He sighs lightly. "I'm not going to deal with them at all yet."

"What are you talking about? She didn't even say anything!"

"No... she's been acting weird lately. She's been bothering me more and more everyday. I don't understand women, why do they bother us so much with their blushing and flirting." Naruto's chin drops to the floor.

"Flirting?! Who would be been flirting with YOU?!" Shikamaru turns his head angrily towards Naruto, giving a death stare to him.

"...Mind your own business." Shikamaru got up quickly and walked off. Naruto stood there with a shocked look on his face.

"_Shikamaru usually isn't the nicest guy, but I've never seen him quite like this before..._"


	6. Bad Timing, Lee

Section 6: Bad Timing, Lee...

Sakura walked down the side of a river, kicking the pebbles around dejected manner. She had no shred of happiness in her expression what-so-ever, as she continued to drag on. She sat down on the small rock side, and stared into the rippling water and the distorted reflection it returned to her. "_Why does Sasuke not like me...? What is it about him that I don't understand?_" She then saw a hallucination of his face in the water, and her eyes became glassy with tears.

"Sakura-chan?" She turned around quickly to see who it was, and saw Rock Lee standing there with a worried look on his face. "Is something wrong?"

He walked up next to her and looked down at her, sitting on the rock. She continued to look ahead towards the river. Lee sat down next to her, and looked down to the water, thinking of something to say to her. "If you... need to talk... " He looked up, and met eyes with her noticing the tears in her eyes. He reacted in the only way he knew how to. He smiled confidently, and gave her a big, nerdy, thumbs-up. "...I'm always here to talk to!" Then his smile gave off that signature glisten passed down from Gai-sensei. Sakura saw his face, and could help but to giggle.

"Thank you, Lee-san." Looking down to the ground, "I appreciate it a lot." Lee just looked at her long and hard, thinking of what he could do for or say to her to cheer her up.

"_I wish I could make her tears go away... I wish I could make her happy._" He looked away, and slyly manuevered himself closer to her. He scratched his head, and tried to conceal his nervousness. He wanted to try to cheer her up, so he did all he could think of again. "Sakura-chan...?"

She looked to him sadly, "Yes, Lee-san...?"

"Uh... _Do it Lee. Do it! Ask! ASK!_" Closing his eyes in fear, "Sakura-chan... Will... _NOW! _ Will you please go on a date with me!!?"

...

A long pause ensued, and Lee kept his eyes shut. When he gathered himself, he opened them, and looked at Sakura's expression. She had tears running down her face.

"_Sasuke-kun..._" She got up quickly and started running away, with her tears falling in her path.

Hesitating, "Ah... Sakura-chan! ... oh." He stopped, and watched her run away, holding her face as she cried. He hung his head low, closing his eyes. "_You Idiot... why'd you have to ask..._" He remained on his knees by the riverbank, mourning what he had just done. He had hurt the person most special to him, and he didn't know how to amend it anymore.


	7. No One Likes Me!

Section 7: No One Likes Me!

Ino busted through her bedroom door and shut it behind her violently. Then she leaned against it, and slid down its surface to the floor in a sitting position. She clinched her forehead, and closed her eyes tightly. "_No one likes me at all. Not Sasuke-kun, not Neji, not even Shikamaru... They all hate me._" Tears seeped out through her tightly closed lids, and she sniffed and huffed trying to hold them in. She was suddenly interrupted, when she heard a banging on the window. She looked up quickly, to see Choji tapping on her window, with a super size bag of potato crisps in his other arm.

Yelling through the window and looking through the cracks of the wooden shutters, "Open up Ino! I'm bored!"

She smiled; company was just what she needed. She unlocked the shutters and pulled them open, letting Choji through. "Thanks, want some?" he said holding out the bag of crisps.

Sniffling and chuckling, "No thanks Choji..." He froze when he noticed her facial expression, which seemed a little grief stricken.

Leaning forward to her, "You ok there Ino?" She looked down to the ground silently, and turned away from him. "Ino?"

She looked down again, in the opposite direction from Choji, and uttered, "I have a... question for you."

Choji stood behind her, a little bewildered at her behavior. "Question...?"

"Yea..." She clinched her fists, trying to build up the nerve to ask him what she wanted to know. "Would... would you ever like me...?" A large exclamation point busted out over his head, and his mouth dropped open.

"...huh?"

She turned back with her eyes short from tears. "You'd like me right?! Right, Choji?" Choji just started eating faster and faster. He was looking left and right nervously.

"Uh... sure?" Ino was frozen. She looked at him shocked, because she knew what he was really thinking, or so she assumed.

"_Him too... I'm not good enough. Not even for Choji..._" She collapsed into a W sitting position on the floor, and sobbed subtly. Choji looked down at her, and felt terrible about what he told her, even if he was unsure what exactly he said that was wrong. He thought about how she was acting... and made his assumptions.

"It's Shikamaru and Sasuke, eh?" She stopped crying, and her eyes widened. She looked up surprised, with the left over tears on her face. "Why do girls like you always like the most difficult guys?" He leaned down to her with a smirk on his face. "I know you don't really like me, and it's ok. I'm big boned, and not as smart as Shikamaru anyways."

"Does that make me a bad person...?"

Smiling, "No, it's just how you feel. No one can change that, even if they want to!" Choji's expression suddenly changed all of a sudden, when he looked as if he just thought of something. "Oh, and I wasn't supposed to tell you, but I should probably tell you anyways." She looked up curiously. "Shikamaru really does like you."

Ino's tears halted and her eyes gaped open. She couldn't really express how she felt, or even understand how she felt either. "Sorry I didn't tell you earlier."

"_He...likes me? Really?_" She closed her eyes and started crying again.

"Ino?! I'm sorry. You aren't happy?"

She wiped her eyes clean of tears, "No, I am happy." She smiled, and looked up to Choji, "Thank you Choji." He smiled, and shoved a handful of crisps into his face.

"You know what?" He grabbed her arm and pulled her up from the ground. "We should go tell him how you feel.... Yes...!" Choji laughed at his ingenious plan. Ino panicked at the thought.

"No! I CAN'T!" Ino screamed while being pulled away by Choji's superior strength, "NOOOO!"


	8. How About You, Shinosama?

Section 8: How About You, Shino-sama?

Shino and Hinata were walking slowly through the forest, just as the sun was at its last stand in the dusk sky. Hinata was noticeably avoiding eye contact with Shino as they continued on. He was aware, but he was pretty sure that already knew why.

"I'm sorry I made you tell me everything. I just thought you would feel better if you did." Shino said, without looking towards her.

"No, no... I do feel better. I just feel stupid." Shino halted in his steps.

"...Why."

"Because, I like someone I could never have. I'm nothing like him." Hinata looked down to the ground. "I already notice how he looks at Sakura-san. She's better for him anyways."

"Humph." Shino looks towards her, with a disappointed look on his face. "You can't really find anyone with that kind of attitude. He won't like you if you don't even like yourself."

She glared down holding back some tears, "You're right." She threw her head up and smiled. "Naruto-kun taught me to be confident in myself, and I wasn't even confident in myself with him."

"So, what are you going to do about it then? Continue to hide from him, or tell him how you truly feel?"

She grinned, and narrowed her eyes happily. She started twiddling her thumbs nervously, while looking off to the side as she usually does. "I want him to know so badly. Let him know what he's done for me. Let him know how important he is to me... He doesn't even notice."

Shino nodded to her in approval, and continued walking. "I'm glad you're getting the courage, Hinata-chan."

"Shino-sama...?" He reacted by turning back to her, waiting for her to continue. "... do... you like anyone...?" His eyebrow rose up, and he gunned back around facing away from Hinata with a drop of sweat running down his forehead.

"No... of course not." He continued walking away quickly. "You coming? We should be going now."

Seeing his evasion of the situation, she smiled when she realized it. "Shino-sama... I wonder who it is...!" She sprinted happily after the fleeing Shino, to get the information she wanted so badly.


	9. Love Hurts

Section 9: Love Hurts

Naruto walked around the dirt path in the forest, kicking the rocks into the lake nearby. "_This sucks... I don't know what to do with myself._" He looked out to the lake, which took him back to his first date. He didn't know what it was really though, the moment he had with Sakura. He just rubbed his head in discontent, and tried to forget it, for he would just get upset again. Just when he was beginning to forget about his time with Sakura, he saw her sprinting hysterically towards him. He looked at her with distress.

"Sakura-chan...?"

She was running with her eyes closed, and tears flowing through them. She continued running, until she stepped onto a stone unorthodoxly, right in front of Naruto, who she intended to run past. Slipping, she fell into Naruto's arms, which caught her instinctively without noticing. He looked down blankly, and then realized who fell into his arms.

Recoiling in horror, "I'm sorry Sakura-chan! Please don't hi..."

"No Naruto... I won't." He looked down at her a little surprised by her response. "Just..." Sakura clinched onto Naruto's outfit, and released her tears. "...don't let me go. Please..."

"...Sakura-chan..." He wrapped his arms around her, comforting her as she sobbed in his arms. Both him, and Sakura fell slowly to the ground in a kneeling position. "_She must be lonely again. I want to help her._" He held her tightly.

Off in the distance, was a short figure peering around a tree. Hinata watched the entire moment from afar, with her mouth slightly opened. "Na...Naruto-kun..." She looked down to the ground, with her lips quivering. "_I'm so happy for him... but at the same time... my chest hurts like it never has before..._" Her grey eyes filled up with tears, and her eyes narrowed. "_He's happier with her..._" Her eyes closed, and she turned away running off. "_...and without me..._"

As she ran off sobbing, a small piece of folded paper fell from her pocket. It floated to the ground, and folded open gracefully. Written inside was a short message, with a small image of heart next to it. The message read...

"_Naruto-kun... I've always watched you wherever you went, and I saw what kind of person you were. I liked the person that I saw, and you were the only person I've ever felt this way about. You always made me feel good about myself. You taught me to always love the person I am. I can't really lie anymore, to you or to myself. The truth is... I've always loved you, Naruto_..."

Running father away from Naruto and Sakura with tears running across her cheeks, one line from her letter rang through her head. "_I've always loved you..._"


	10. Damn You, Sasuke!

Section 10: Damn You, Sasuke!

Rock Lee sat in the tree branch staring up to the sky in bedazzlement of what happened earlier that night. He didn't know what to think of it really. He felt like he had ruined things between him and Sakura though.

"_Why... I wish she never liked Sasuke..._" His brillo-pad eyebrows dipped down in anger. "_Who does he think he is to trample her delicate heart like that!?_" Interrupting his thought process, he heard someone walking below. He peered down from the branch, without making a noise, to see Sasuke walking along with his hands buried in his pockets.

Lee looked at him long, and his eyes widened as he gritted his teeth. "_That Sasuke..._" He watched him as he was walking underneath the branch Lee was perched upon. "_Get him! Do it now!_" He gripped the bark of the tree, to hold himself back from his anger.

Sasuke stopped in his tracks and twitching his head upward a little, "Are you going to attack me, or what..." Looking up the branch,"...Lee." Lee recoiled, and reacted by dropping down.

Pointing towards Sasuke with his palm toward his face, "You... have hurt the person I care about most. It is... unforgivable!"

"Humph," Looking away from Lee, "...you mean that annoyance, Sakura?" Lee cringed in anger. "What makes you think I care how I made her feel? I just want her to leave me alone."

"How..." Clinching his fists, looking down to the dirt, and leaking tears from her eyes. "...how could you take her love... for GRANTED?!"

"I never asked for her love, I never even asked for her friendship. She just started bugging me. You could blame me for her being hurt all you want, but the only idiot... is her."

"You... you don't deserve her!"

"I don't want anyone anyways... now get lost." Sasuke saunters off with his arms shoved back into his pockets. Lee stood there in shock, and couldn't say anything to him.

"_It's... it's not fair... why does Sakura-chan love someone so mean to her... and she doesn't love me. If she likes him more than me, she must think I'm a terrible guy._" Holding back his tears, "_You're no man, Lee... you're just a crying, ugly... loser._" He turned away from the departing Sasuke, and walked in the opposite direction.

As he was walking, he kept imagining Sakura, as she would be if she was with Sasuke. Following were images of how upset she would be if she was with him.

"_I wish I wasn't so... ugly..._"

Flashbacks:

Naruto pops up saying, "Hey, thick brows!"

Tenten pops up saying, "Oh c'mon Lee, you'll find a girl who will overlook your... appearance... heh."

Sakura pops up saying, "Ugh, what's with the hair?! It's so lame!"

Lee continued running distraughtly through the forest, he never wanted to stop though. Never...

"I'll always be ugly! Always!"


	11. Daddy Nara Steps Up

Section 11: Daddy Nara Steps Up

Shikamaru sat perched on his roof outside his window, staring up at the stellar arrangement in the night sky. He held up his thumb, pretending to connect the stars to manifest images coming from his imagination. He slumped down in an aggravated fashion, as if he were trying to get something off his mind.

"Humph... This is a rotten situation I've got myself in." Closes his eyes, and sighs with discontent. "Why do I feel bad for what I did earlier anyways? She's just some stupid girl I'm forced to do mission with. I shouldn't care as usual..."

"You just like her is all..." Shikamaru gets surprised, and turns back to his window, where the comment came from. He saw his father, Shikato, smiling at his own assumptions.

Shikamaru lashes back around angrily, "No way, why would I like her? All she talks about is Sasuke anyways." Shikato just chuckles lightly at his son's response. He climbs out through the window, and walks over to his baffled son. "What's so funny? Huh?"

His father looked over to him smiling, "You're a little jealous, aren't you?"

"Jealous?" He lashes back at the accusation, and crosses his arms fiercely. "Humph, what do I have to be jealous of?"

"Well boy... I think you're starting to realize why I fell in love with your mother."

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"You see that girl's good sides. She obviously makes you feel differently about women, if she's got you sitting up here like this..."

"_Eh... I suppose he's right. But, I'm just asking for trouble... I've got to stay away from her obviously._" He looks up to his father, "Whenever Ino comes here, just tell her I'm busy or something from now on, then."

"Hmm..." Shikato leans forward laughing lightly. "You can't avoid it, it's impossible, son. You'll just eventually realize it, and end up looking for her."

"Avoid... what?"

Shikato sits down next to Shikamaru, looks over to him and smiles. "Love... Shikamaru."

"...Love? Me? No... that can't happen, not yet. _ Pshh, love my ass. Who's he to tell me what love is? Right, dad. Right._"

Shikato chuckles in pleasure at his son's denial. "Shikamaru, don't look at love as a bad thing... You always look at me strange when I always do things to please your mother, but..."

"...but what? Why should you have to make her happy all the time? They can make themselves happy for all I care."

"Well... I don't really look at it as I have to make her happy." Shikato rubs the back of his head nervously, "I just love her so much, that I WANT to make her happy all the time, I guess." Shikamaru looked at his father oddly, and then stared down at the shingles on the roof.

"_So, dad finally made some sense. First time for everyone to do something right... I sort of get it all too, I guess._" Sighs in confusion and defeat, "So, what should I do then...?"

Shikato looks down surprised. "You're asking for help from me... with love? _He's actually asking me for help? So this is how this father business works, eh?_"

Shikamaru closes his eye, and in an irritated tone, "Are you going to help me, or what? _Look what you've stooped down to now, asking dad-ee-o for tips on love._"

"I... guess I could, heh..."

Shikamaru looks up to the sky again with an unconfident aura around him. "Love sucks... Damn it."

Shikato just smiles and chuckles happily. "Oh, Shikamaru... you silly kid."


	12. Shino, The Counselor

Section 12: Shino, The Counselor

Hinata was lying on her side, in her small window-side bed, without moving a muscle. Small sized tears fell down the sides of her cheeks, accompanied by her sniffling and sobbing. Outside in the hallway, Shino and Kiba watch her from the outside of the doorway, covertly.

Whispering, "Shino... what's up with Hinata anyways...?"

"Hmm... seems like everything didn't go the way she hoped."

Kiba looks back at Shino in a concerned fashion. "What? What's everything...?"

"Well... everything with Naruto probably went badly."

"Naruto?! What'd he do to her?! He been bothering her, like he bugs Sakura?! I'll show him!"

Shino jerks his head with annoyance, "Are you as blind as he is?"

Kiba's anger quickly turned into puzzlement, "...huh?"

"Humph... you are. You didn't notice how Hinata behaves around Naruto?"

"What? What do you mean I'm as blind as him?!"

Shino's eyes brows arched heatedly, "Listen, Hinata loves Naruto. There is no doubt, and from how she looks now, she probably found something she wishes she didn't. Ok?" Kiba's facial expression froze.

"_Naruto...? Love...? HIM?! Who the hell is he?_" He looks down to the ground, with a shattered look in his eyes. "_How is he better than me...?_" Kiba sat up, "Well hmm... it's what I'd expect from that idiot, Naruto!"

Shino looked at Kiba suspiciously, "Hey Kiba, are you alright yourself?"

Kiba looked back with a perfectly plastered pseudo-smile, "Of course I'm fine, Shino." He walks down the hall, fixing his hood tightly. "_I've just got to suck it all up..._ _it's ok..._"

Shino watched Kiba walk down the hall slowly, and turned his head towards Hinata, who hadn't moved from her sorrowful position. "Hmm... what a problem we have here..." He takes a gulp, and prepares his composure as he walks into Hinata's room. He sat down next to her, but she remained motionless.

"Shino-sama..." she murmured. "Why... why is everything so unfair?"

Not knowing what to say, Shino just sighed, and rubbed her shoulder supportively. "Some things just happen in weird ways. Whatever you saw, or heard from Naruto... just don't you worry. If things were supposed to happen between you, then he'll realize."

"...Meant to happen? I... wouldn't want to ruin his happiness. He's been waiting for this time with Sakura-san for years. Now I feel like my feelings don't even matter anymore. As long as he's happy..."

Shino looked over to her, with his eyebrows raised in surprise. "Hinata..." He sighs in a pleased fashion. "You really do love him, don't you...?" Hinata reacts by rolling onto her back, and looking up at Shino. "You're a very good person Hinata... So selfless, that you'd give up your own happiness to see the person you love be happy, even if it was without you."

Hinata's eyes rippled emotionally, "Thank you, Shino-sama..." She stopped, and closed her eyes. "...but I've never heard you talk so much in one day."

Shino recoiled at the realization that she was right. "...I'm sorry then."

Hinata rockets up to a sitting position, "No, no... I'm glad you've been talking to me more. You always seemed so lonely when you went off on your own."

"Well... don't worry. My bugs are always with me Hinata. I'm never alone." Shino started to get up from the bed.

She gasped slightly at his response, "...but, don't you ever wish you were close to other people...?" He froze in a partially standing position.

"...no. I'm fine by myself." Hinata frowned, and watched Shino continue out the door.

"Well... then who do you like Shino-sama...?" Shino froze up, and started sweating once again. "...because when I asked earlier, you didn't answer me."

"Well..." He walked through the doorway, and muttered, "...no one." He continued out of the room, leaving Hinata on here bed, who still lied there clinching her bed sheets.

"_Shino-sama... Why do you have to hide everything from everyone, especially me?_"


	13. A New Crush?

Section 13: A New Crush?

Sakura and Naruto walked slowly down the long street way next to each other, without making any real eye contact. Naruto was looking away with his arm folded behind his head, and Sakura had her arms together behind her, looking at the walkway opposite of Naruto.

Naruto glanced over to Sakura out of the corner of his eye, without moving from his positioning. With a large grin aimed towards her, "Hehe, so are you feeling any better, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura doesn't respond at all, and Naruto's smile grows flat and his eyes squint. He looks straight ahead, and sighs despondently. "Sorry Naruto..."

He gets startled, and looks over towards her, "Huh...? Sorry for what Sakura-chan?"

"Well... Treating you so terribly all this time.

"Eh? What do you mean terribly? You treat me great!"

"No... I'm mean to you, even after everything you've done for me... you probably hate me by now."

"No! No way, you're my friend no matter what! Nothing you can do will ever make me hate you. Plus, I'd never let any of those jerks hurt my Sakura, eh?!"

"... I'm still sorry..." She looked away a little ashamed.

Naruto placed his hand on her shoulder, and turned her back towards him. "Sakura-chan...?"

She locked eyes with him, "...Naruto..." There was a long pause as they looked into each other's eyes for an extended period of time. "_...is... is he going to tell me... Now that I feel the same..._"

"...Can you please shut up already?"

Saying with her mouth hanging open wide, "EH?!" She lunges forward towards Naruto waving her fist around angrily, "What do you mean shut up?! What was that for?!"

Naruto leaned forward with a pleased crack across his face. "Now there's the Sakura I know, hehe."

She looked at surprised at his response, and smiled slowly. "Hehe... you're such an idiot."

"You're favorite idiot though, right?!" The pair started laughing together, while Sakura turned significantly blushed. Naruto seemed settled to see Sakura smiling again. "I'm glad you feel better. If anything else is wrong..." He flings his fist up with his thumb pointing toward himself, "...you come to me, Uzumaki Naruto! I'll fix anything!"

She smiled and nodded in approval. "Thank you..."

Naruto grinned, "Mm hmm! That's what friends are for anyways, right?"

"_Friends...?"_ she thought with a seemingly disappointed look on her face. Then she changed her expression, to one with a content smile,_ "Yea, friends. I like how it is now._" "Exactly..."

Naruto scratched his head chuckling. "So you want me to walk you home Sakura-chan? And maybe you could let me in for some of your mom's Mochi?!" he exclaimed with a huge grin on his face.

"Alright, Naruto..." she responded with a cute expression of happiness.

"Woo! Woo! Thank you Sakura-chan!" She watched him turn away and head down the road in a juvenile sprint, while he flailed his arms around ridiculously.

As she was watching with a shy but happy look on her face, "_I'm so glad he didn't say what I wanted him to say. If he did, I wouldn't know what to do. I've always thought of Naruto as a bumbling idiot of a friend, but now... I... I'm starting to like him more and more. But... I wouldn't want to mess anything up between us now though... and plus..._"

Sakura looks down to her hand near her hip, which seems to be pulling out a small, folded piece of paper. Only a small section of the note is visible when she looks down at it. It reads, "_Naruto-kun... I've always watched you wherever you went..._"

She looked up Naruto, who was frantically waving for her attention in the distance. She smiled gladly with her eyes glassy from tears of joy. "_...there's someone who loves him a lot, already._" She begins sprinting towards Naruto yelling, "Naruto! There's something I have to show you...!"


	14. Two Kids, Two Confessions

Section 14: Two Kids, Two Confessions

Ino rakes at the ground, trying to hold herself in place screaming, "No! Stop Choji! Not now!" Choji has her leg in his arm, and is dragging her in the direction of Shikamaru's house.

"Why not tell him now?" he said, releasing her.

She stood up and dusted herself off. She looked at him angrily waving her fist, "...because I don't want to tell him how I feel!!"

"...Tell who, how you feel?" Both Choji and Ino peer over to where the question came from. They see Shikamaru standing there with a puzzled look on his face.

Ino lashes back in fear, "AHHH!" She started waving her hands around with her eyes closed and sweat running down her forehead, "No one! No one! I'm just talking about... uh..."

Shikamaru just closes his eyes and sighs, "...it's ok, never mind." He starts walking away, with his eye twitching in emotional leaking. "_Forget this crap. It'd never happen anyways_._ She was probably going to try with that Sasuke again anyways. My confessions mean nothing when he's brought into the picture._" Ino looks back at the departing Shikamaru with a teary look of concern.

"_Wait... don't go..._" She clinched her fit trying to force the words out. "WAIT!"

Shikamaru opened his eyes, slightly surprised. He turned back around with a questionable face. "_What now..._"

She jogged up to him thinking, "_What the hell are you doing! You don't know what to say to him! Are you crazy?!_" She kept approaching him anyways, until her feet became tangled from her lack of focus. She fell forward, and found herself landing into Shikamaru's shocked arms.

The two locked eyes for a short moment, then both turned away from each other nervously. Both were blushed and sweating profusely from that little moment, while Choji sat in the background.

He leaned against a wall, and looked thoroughly entertained as he ate his bag of trail mix. "_Oh, this is good stuff..._ _It's fun to see those two_ _reeling from each other._" He though, smiling with food lodged in his mouth.

Shikamaru remained silent, scratching the area behind his head and under his ponytail nervously. "_C'mon Shikamaru, this never happens to you. You always know what to do! Humph... girls really are a man's weakness... I see now, dad._"

"Shikamaru..." Ino murmured lightly. Shikamaru turned around curiously. "I... I really like you..." she forced out, with her eyes teary and closed in fear.

Shikamaru's face went blank with shock, "You... do?" He looked at her palely, "_Crap, I feel so damn weak now. I can hardly stand up! This is crazy!_"

"I'm sorry... for always talking about Sasuke all the time and always making you feel badly when I defend him..."

He regained his typical Shikamaru self and said, "Well why don't you go and tell him how you feel then, and not me."

She got teary-eyed, "...because..."

He looked at her a little heartlessly and told her snidely, "Because what? I thought you were in love with him? Well?"

"I LOVE YOU... I love you... that's..." Ino collapsed to the ground sobbing, "...why." She broke out crying while she knelt on the ground in front of Shikamaru. He looked down and felt a stabbing pain in his chest.

"_What'd you do to her? Why is she crying so much? Why don't you do something?_" Shikamaru froze up for a moment in hesitation. "_...and why the hell does my chest hurt so much, I feel so damn... terrible._" When he regained himself, he knelt down to Ino at eye level. "I'm... sorry. I didn't mean to be so harsh."

Ino looked up at Shikamaru with the leftover tears still in her eyes. "You don't hate me still?" He looked at her slightly confused.

"I... never... hated you. _Phew, you're one terrible liar._"

She lashed out, "You always hated me, don't lie." As more tears rolled from her eyes, "Everyone has always found me annoying, even my own friends!"

Shikamaru's eyes looked compassionate at first, but then bent downward in an irritated fashion. "Damn' it, do girls ever listen to what anyone says? Or do they like to whine and not give a man a chance to speak?" Shikamaru lashed his finger back towards himself, "How about you give me a chance and... LISTEN to me!"

Ino retreated slightly from Shikamaru and his spite. "S...sorry."

Closing his eyes and sighing, he remained silent without a word. "_Girls are too much. This really sucks that I..._" looking towards Ino's awaiting eyes,"_happen to like this one._" He sighs again despondently. "I guess it's inevitable."

Ino blinks rapidly and confused, "...huh? What is?"

Shikamaru tilts his head to the side with his eyes shut, "What I'm going to tell you." He opens his eyes, and locks them with Ino's. She stares back blankly, without moving much. A small smirk manifests onto Shikamaru's face, as he lifted up his arm to his right.

He reached forward giving her a small and harmless push, "I like you, Ino. You know that?"

Ino looks back, slightly confused. "...what do you mean by that...? _Please... be what I hope._"

"_Damn it, you idiot. Why'd you have to go and tell her? Should have kept your mouth shut._" Sweat began to rise from the skin all over his face, and his complexion became reddened. "Well, you're one of the few girls I can tolerate... I guess."

She slumped down in disappointment, "_Figured it was something like that..._"

Choji jumped up between them with a huge smile on his face. Holding up his pinky, "Are you guys this yet!?" Shikamaru glares at Choji without turning his head and huffs in annoyance. Without saying a word, he walks down the street with his hands crossed.

Ino stomps on the ground in irritation. "_Damn it! What happened...? Why didn't things work out...?_"


	15. Sakura Is Torn

Section 15: Sakura Is Torn

Sakura and Naruto were sitting on her bed next to each other. He was holding the note she found on the ground earlier that night. She was leaned towards him awaiting a reaction from the message written on it.

Naruto had his eyes squinted with a baffled facial expression. "Hmm..."

Sakura looked at him strangely, "What? Did you read it?"

He looked over to her with a smirk on his face. "Nope! I just love the picture of this heart, it's cool!"

Sakura's jaw dropped, "You mean you've been looking at just that heart for 15 minutes...?"

Naruto turned his head back in astonishment, "...You didn't?"

Sakura just gritted her teeth and shook her fist, "Just read the letter, Naruto..." He smiled and looked back down to the letter. His face went from a bubbly to confused gaze as his eyes scanned down the body of the letter. His eyes suddenly widened, and his mouth arched downward. Sakura looked at him alarmed, "Naruto? Are you ok?"

Without looking up to Sakura, Naruto held the letter back up to her face. In a serious and dark tone, "What is this about...?"

She looked towards him with a startled appearance, "I... I found it on the ground and thought you'd want to..."

Naruto lashed his head towards Sakura, "Well I don't want to know ok?!" He throws the note to the floor angrily, "This isn't funny at all!" He stormed out of the room quickly in rage.

"Naruto! Don't go!"

Naruto lashed around, "Look, I know I'm a girl's worst nightmare for a guy, but you don't have to go writing fake letters just to mock me!"

Sakura leans forward in shock, "No! No! It's real it's not a fake!" She then frowned, "...and why do you think I feel that way about you..."

Naruto looked down at the ground, "C'mon Sakura-chan, I know that girls don't like me at all. They like guys like Sasuke. Heh, even thick brows has my number when it comes to girls. I'm not that stupid!"

Sakura looks down to the ground desolately, "_No... that's..._" She looks up to his damaged expression, "_..._that's not true!" Naruto looked back up at her, with wonder of what she meant. "I..." She shyly looks away from Naruto, and blushes trying to force out her words. "...I... I like you Naruto."

He looked at her unenthusiastically, "Right. I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"

"No! I mean that! Believe me!"

Naruto began to walk away, "No."

"_Stop him... Don't let him go!_" She ran up and pulled on the drawstring of his jacket.

"What the hell, Sakura?!" he exclaimed being lashed back around towards her. "Let g..." She launched towards him suddenly, and pressed her lips against his, without warning.

Sakura pulled away from him after the brief kiss and saw his stunned face, realizing what she just did. "_Oh no... what'd you just do?! You KISSED HIM?!_" She felt limp due to her actions. She looked at Naruto silently, and couldn't think of anything to say to him.

He turns away from her, "...Why'd you do that."

"Because... I meant what I said... I guess."

Naruto looked away, humiliated at what he had just done. "So... that letter was...?"

"...Yea..." Naruto walked past Sakura and bent down to pick up the note. He held it in front of him silently.

"_Well... I guess that explains why she always acts weird around me_. _Am I really that stupid...?_" He dropped his head in shame. "I'm sorry Sakura-chan, this... this just never happened before."

She looked at him uncomfortably, "I understand... buy I'm sorry too." He looked up questionably. "I shouldn't have..." She looked away from him in shame, "...kissed you."

He looked at her expressionless, and realized the need for the mood to change. He stood up straight and smiled, "Don't worry Sakura-chan! You're a really good kisser anyways!" He began to blush and laugh nervously, while rubbing the back of his head.

Sakura blushed as well, and looked away shyly. "Th...Thank you Naruto."

Naruto leaned forward, and straightened her out towards him. "So, do you want me to keep this a secret for you?" Sakura shot back with shock.

"Why... would I want to do that?"

Naruto laughed confidently, "Well it'd be embarrassing if people knew you kissed me. So... it'd be ok if you didn't want anyone to know." Sakura at first felt guilty for making him get those kinds of ideas. Then her expression got real angry, real fast.

Bashing him over his skull, "Do you seriously think I'd make you do something like that you idiot?!!?"

Naruto rubbed his wound and smirked back to Sakura, "I'm sorry, heh! I'm just thinking of what's best for you."

Sakura smiles back bashfully, "Well, if you were... You'd let me brag about it..." She looked towards him coyly, with her cheeks flushed.

"Thanks Sakura-chan!" He grinned momentarily, "...but it'd be better if no one knew, so you could still try with Sasuke!" Sakura's expression dissolved into a look of astonishment.

"Sasuke-kun..." She looked down to the ground shamefully. "_How could I get so confused between these two..._"

Naruto put his hand on her shoulder, and then jerked her into his arms. He put his mouth next to her ear and whispered, "I know how much you care about him, and I'd want to see you happy with him." Her mouth dropped open, then she nestled herself into his embrace.

"Naruto..." Her eyes ran with tears of happiness, "Thank you... _I really do love you... Thank you for understanding._"


	16. The Real Shino

Section 16: The Real Shino

Shino was perched on top of a large tree, staring off at the horizon ahead. The moon was just a little above the horizon's edge in its entirety, and it had Shino's eye. He looked down to his finger, which had a small beetle crawling across it.

Flashback:

The image of Hinata on her bed pops into his head, "...but, don't you ever wish you were close to other people...?"

Looking down at the bug he had, "_I never really felt lonely before, but now that I think about it..._" watching the small beetle open its shell and fly off,"_I am alone..._" Shino sighed miserably, and stood up straight on the branch. He looked off into the night silently, letting the thoughts run through his head.

"_I always come here alone, every night... to do nothing but collect bugs I can't even talk to. Be friends with. Love..._" He crossed his arms, and took in the night breeze during his thought. "_The only person I really have gotten close to is Hinata. I've never really enjoyed talking to people, but lately... being with her seems to make me feel differently. What a weird feeling..._"

"...Shino-sama...?" Shino slightly twitched in surprise, started sweating, and slowly turned his head and body around. He saw below, Hinata looking up with her hands clinched together.

"Hinata..." He jumped down next to her to check on her. "What are you doing here?"

"I... was worried about you. I always have been."

Shino's eyebrow rises questioningly, "...Why? I'm fine."

Hinata looked away timidly, while twiddling her thumbs, "...but Shino-sama... you always seem so lonely."

Shino sighs in defeat, and turns to his side while looking down into the ground. "You can see right through me, can't you?"

Hinata lashes back slightly, pulling her hands up to her mouth.

Shino continued to look down, clinching his fist tightly, "I'm glad you cared enough about me to notice. You're one of my only close friends."

She grinned while looking to the ground, "Of course Shin-sama... you're a special person to me..."

He looked at her strangely. He'd never really felt emotions as strong as these new feelings. He struggled to fight off showing Hinata how he felt inside. "_Special? What?_"

He looked at her doubtingly, "I'm nothing special. I'm just some anti-social kid who plays with bugs."

Hinata gasps at Shino's lack of confidence, "No! No... that's not true... why do you say such terrible things about yourself."

Shino looks away from her, "Because people don't like me and my bugs, especially girls. I'm just some weirdo to them, and I don't really blame them for thinking so."

"Stop, Shino-sama! That's not true... I like that fact you have your bugs around you, it's different, and I like it when you tell me about them. And, you probably get a lot of trouble from people for it... but you do things that make you happy, even if people treat you badly for it." Hinata smiles and curls up warily, "I think you're very strong for sticking with who you are, and believing in yourself... you remind me Naruto-kun in that sense."

Shino stands still looking towards Hinata, unable to produce a response. "_Like Naruto... Humph... he's a lucky guy._" He looks towards Hinata, "_...to have a girl like her, in love with him._"

"Shino-sama... I didn't upset you did I?"

He pulled forward, and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Of course not... Thank you though. I feel a lot better now."

Hinata's mouth dropped open with a smile, and she nodded toward him. "I'm glad."

He looked back to her standing there with a smile on her face, "_I want to answer her question... but I notice how happy she is thinking about Naruto. I don't want to confuse her... maybe in time I'll tell her, how I feel_." Shino smiled pleasantly, "We should go back, it's getting late."

Hinata grinned, "Ok!" Shino walked by her with his hands in his pocket, until he felt a tugging on his jacket. He stopped in his tracks, and turned to see what it was. Then Hinata slipped her arm around his, "I'm sorry... I just hate being in the woods at night. You don't mind, do you...?" Shino removed his arm from his pocket and from Hinata's grip. She looked at him in remorse, "I'm sorry... I... I..."

Before she could say anything else, he wrapped the same arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. "Don't worry, I'll be here..." Hinata looked up at him smiling and leaned her head against him with a safe feeling running through her.

"_Shino-sama... always stay this way..._"


	17. Momma Nara Forces The Inevitable

Section 17: Momma Nara Forces The Inevitable

Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, and Shikato were all sitting around the dinner table at the Nara's house. Ino and Shikamaru sat with discomfort, avoiding all eye contact with while they were next to each other. Choji sat across from the pair, stuffing his face with Mrs. Nara's rice snacks while he waited for the main course. At the head of the table sat Shikato, who was smirking contently.

"_You're a genius! Your boy will thank you later!_" He thought chuckling to himself, as he watched Ino and Shikamaru squirm in their seats.

"Shikato!" Mrs. Nara came storming through the doorway, "Help me with this food out here!"

He turned to her at the table, "Honey, can it wait just a..."

"NOW!"

Shikato hung his head in shame, "Yes dear..." He rose up from the chair and dragged himself into the kitchen to assist his wife. Shikamaru watched his father as he left, with a disappointed look on his face.

"_Humph... Dad, you're such a bitch. Women really are a pain in the ass._"

"Your poor dad..." Shikamaru looked up very surprised with Ino's comment. "Your mom's bossy eh?"

"_What? She agrees with me?_ Yea, nothing I would deal with."

Ino smiled, "Nothing you should have to! I wouldn't do that to the guy I marry."

Shikamaru smiled smugly, "As if any guy in his right mind would marry you anyways." She looked at him a little damaged, and stared down at the table sadly. "_What the hell? Why isn't she getting mad and defensive as usual?_" He looked over to her with a feeling of guilt in his gut. He pushed her arm, trying to get a reaction from her. "C'mon, get mad! What's wrong with you?"

Choji switched focus between the two, while slowing his eating. He looked at the both nervously, "_Uh oh, heh._" He slid out slowly, trying not to be notice by the pair across from him. He wriggled out of the dining room, and peaked out through the opening to evaluate his friends and their situation.

Ino still hadn't answered, and she still seemed perturbed. Shikamaru felt his guilt tearing him up inside, which he wasn't used to really. "_Well, shit... this sucks. This girl has me whipped like my father._" He sighs lightly, "Ok, Ino... You win."

Ino shoots up from her mourning with a confused look on her face. "...W...what do you mean...?"

Out of frustration from his inability to hold his emotion back, he started rambling very quickly. "I like you... I have a crush on you... I want to be more than friends..." Shikamaru slapped and grabbed his face in embarrassment, "I love you ok? Happy?!"

Ino sat there as solid as stone. Choji was in the doorway holding his mouth to keep back his scream. Suddenly, Ino frowned, and her lip started to quiver. "Shikamaru..." Her eyes filled with tears, as she dove into his arms. He caught her with a freaked out expression, while she nestled her head against her chest, sobbing. "Shikamaru! I love you too!" She continued to sob, while Shikamaru looked down at her relaxed.

"_Phew, I got that off my chest._" He looked down to her, and smirked happily. "_She looks so cute right now..._" He looked up with the same star-struck look on his, to notice Choji, Shikato, and his mother in the doorway giggling at what just happened.

Ino rubbed her cheek against Shikamaru's chest, "I love you Shikamaru..."

He froze up when he saw then, and pushed Ino back up. "What're you doing?!"

She looked at him confused, "What? What'd I do...?"

Mrs. Nara jogged up to Shikamaru, giving him a huge hug. "Oh! My little boy met a girl he like! Ooooo!" she exclaimed while hugging and pinching Shikamaru's cheeks.

"MOM! What do you think you're doing?! I don't like her... I just..."

"Don't you dare lie! Your FATHER did that when he met me too!"

Shikato leaned toward his wife in a pleading fashion, "Honey...please..."

Pointing and lashing out at Shikato, "Shut up! You made the mistake a long time ago, it's your own fault!" Shikato drops his arm and head in defeat. "He was just like you Shikamaru, he treated me..." Mrs. Nara jerked her head towards Shikato and stares him down, "... TERRIBLE!" Shikato recoiled defensively, grinning nervously. Mrs. Nara pointed violently in Shikamaru's face. "..and YOU! You wont be doing the same, got it?!"

Shikamaru leaned back, with his eyebrow twitching in fear. "O... ok?"

Mrs. Nara leaned back, and smiled again. "Good! Aw, you'll both be so cute together!" She gasped, "I need to show you guys memorabilia!"

Both Shikamaru and Shikato sighed hopelessly, as Mrs. Nara ran off to the other room. Ino turned her head to Shikamaru with a scarred look on her face. "What just happened...?"

Shikamaru scratched his head in embarrassment, "She kept me from lying again, heh. I do love you, Ino. I'm sorry about all that."

She frowned in doubt, "Now, do you really mean that...? I can't tell if you mean it or not anymore... You keep saying you do, then you act like don't..."

Shikamaru stood up, and pulled Ino up with him. "Well, I hope this will answer your question." He yanked her body towards him, and locked lips with her. She struggled at first touch, but then settled into the moment quickly. "_...What the hell did you just do? You must really be in love then? You're doing nothing you usually do anymore ...but I like it..._" He closed his eyes, and held her close during the kiss, the kiss neither of them would forget.


	18. What The Sakurachan?

Section 18: What The... Sakura-chan?

The knocking on the door echoed all through the house, as Hinata came down the stairs in a hurry. "_I'm coming, I'm coming!_" She pushed the small curtain out of her way and came up to the large sliding door. First thing she saw was Sakura, who was leaning forward with a massive smile across her face.

"Hi, Hinata!"

Hinata gasped very lightly in surprise, and smiled flatly. "Hello Sakura."

Naruto popped over Sakura's shoulder, waving his hand wildly in a greeting. "Hinata-channnn!"

Hinata recoiled in horror, "Ah! Naruto-kun!" She jerked around facing away from them both, with her face lit up red. "_He's still with her... and they both look so happy... I don't know if I should be happy for him, or sad for myself..._"

Naruto came up behind her, and reached his arm over her head. He dropped down a small piece of paper in front of her eyes. "Look what I found, Hinata-chan."

She glanced up at the paper slowly, while she still thought about Naruto and Sakura being together. Then, her pupils dilated in terror upon seeing what was written on the leaf of paper. "_My letter!?!_" She freaked out, taking a few steps forward then crouching down to the ground defensively. She curled up into a ball, holding her ears, "Please tell me you didn't read it..."

Sakura walked up next to her, and crouched down next to her. "He did."

Hinata tightened up her curl upon hearing the bad news. "No! I... I'm sorry Sakura, I didn't know you loved Naruto-kun, I didn't mean to be a problem."

Naruto bent down to Hinata, laughing about what Hinata was apologizing for. "Hinata, Sakura loving me? That would never happen!"

Sakura looked back up to Naruto with a stunned look on her face, and then dropped her head when she thought about it more. "_That's not true... you liar..._"

Hinata slowly exposed herself from her position, and looked up in confusion. "Sak...Sakura? You don't... love Naruto-kun?"

Sakura looked down at Hinata, who had a small tear buildup in her eyes. She then looked up to Naruto who was smiling with eyes closed, nodding towards her. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and forced out her words reluctantly with sorrow in her tone, "...No, I... don't." She looked down, and sighed. "_You... liar..._" She looked up to Naruto again. "_He... doesn't like me anymore...? He seems serious..._"

"Oh..." Hinata turned as red as Sakura's clothes. "Th... then w... why are you two here to show me my letter...?"

Naruto handed her the letter and smiled, "I just wanted to say, thank you for what you had to say about me! I really liked your drawing too!"

Sakura and Hinata both seemed surprised.

"_What is he doing...? ...He doesn't like her...?_"

Hinata dropped her head and shoulders in disappointment. "Oh... well I hoped you'd like it."

Sakura stepped back in uncertainty, "_What is he doing...?_"

"I like girls like you. You remind me of Sakura." He smiled widely, "You're both the prettiest and greatest girls on Earth!" The two stood next to each other, bashfully looking away from Naruto. He scratched his head in embarrassment, "I hope that wasn't too much, heh."

Sakura looked at him blushing, "_Damn it, when the hell did this idiot become so cute... ugh... I'm screwed up..._" She looked over to Hinata for her reaction.

Hinata stood still, curling up the letter she had wrote, in her hands timidly. She was looking down trying to hide her blushing face from Naruto. "Na...Naruto-kun."

Naruto raises his eyebrow questionably, then leans forward with a smile on his face. "Yea, Hinata-chan?"

Her eyes rippled, and her grip tightened on the note in her hands. Then, her head shot up towards Naruto, revealing her flowing tears and sniffling.

Naruto looked towards her concerned, "Hinata-chan? Are you..." Before he got to finish, she thrusts forward towards Naruto, and presses her lips against his. "_Wow, two kisses in one night, weird!_"

Sakura stood to the side with her jaw dropped. The inner Sakura popped up from behind her saying, "_Grr! How dare Hinata for kissing MY Naruto!_" Steam pours out of inner-Sakura's ears, as she shakes her fist angrily.

A dark figure watches from the doorway, as the two shares their kiss. Shino is revealed as the hidden person, watching silently. He hangs his head and sighs mournfully. After a moment, he turns and leaves down the hall dejectedly.

Hinata pulls back, without looking up to Naruto. "...I'm sorry Naruto-kun..."

Naruto smiles and looks down, "Don't worry, I've had an eventful night already..." He looks over to Sakura with a smile. She looks into his eyes and looked over to him flirtatiously when she caught on to what he was saying.

Hinata pushes Naruto away and looks down to the ground, "you... and Sakura... you look cute together..."

Both Naruto and Sakura look back palely, especially Sakura. "_She said we look cute..._" She smiled and scratched her head, "Heh... I guess we are."

Naruto turns his head to her, surprised. "_We do? What is she talking about?_ Sakura-chan? You don't like me though..."

She closed her eyes and smirked, "I lied..."

Naruto's eye started to twitch from shock, "...what?"

Sakura's eyebrows dipped down in anger, "What, did you think I lied to you earlier or something?"

Flashback:

Sakura popped into Naruto's mind, "...I... I like you Naruto."

"Hmm... forgot about that." Naruto pops up in excitement, "...but its just some stupid crush, right Sakura-chan?!"

"...No..."

"...huh?"

Sakura turned red and looked down at her feet, which were twitching nervously. "I... can't lie Naruto. I really do like you... and I'd... I'd want something with you."

Hinata held her hands up to her mouth at Sakura's confession. "Naruto-kun... you have someone who cares about you a lot... I... I don't want to get in the way."

Sakura looks over to her, and slumps down with guilt. "_You're ruining everything..._"

Naruto walks up smiling, "I'm sorry love sucks so much." Both girls turn to him with stunned looks on their faces. "I don't know, it seems as if everyone loves someone they could probably never have..." Naruto begins to rub the back of his head, "...which is why Sakura-chan liking me was so surprising, heh."

Hinata looked down to the ground sadly, "...Why doesn't it always work out..."

Naruto looked away feeling guilty, "Well... I'm sorry it didn't work out. I'm not exactly being very fair, but... you can meet someone way better than me, for you Hinata-chan."

She curled up, and thought about what Naruto said. While she was thinking, Shino came to mind. "_Shino-sama... He... He probably knows just how I feel..._"


	19. Our Star

Section 19: Our Star

"Shikamaru...?"

"Yea."

"... Do you think were good together like everyone thinks...?"

"I don't know... why do you keep asking all these mushy questions. _Humph... how troublesome._"

"... I'm sorry, I just wanted to know..."

The two were sitting together by the edge of a lake side, lobbing some nearby stones into the shimmering water. Shikamaru takes one stone, and guns it in frustration, followed by a long sigh.

"What's wrong...?" Ino leaned towards Shikamaru, and gave him a small kiss on his cheek. "You ok?"

"I'm fine... this just feels weird. I'm not used to caring about some one so much."

Ino lit up, and blushed as she looked at Shikamaru stare off into the sky. She nestled her head against his arm, smiling uncontrollably. "I love you, Shikamaru."

He sighed and rolled his eyes, "I love you too. _There, happy? Making me say it all the time..._" She squeezed his arm cheerfully. Shikamaru looked down at her a little annoyed, but saw the expression on her face. "_She looks so... happy. Is she happy cause of me?_" He pulled his arm free, and lay down to stare at the sky.

Ino looked at Shikamaru a little perplexed. "Shikamaru...?"

He continued to look up to the sky, and grinned confidently. "Come lie down here with me, Ino."

Ino smile, and nestled herself close to him on the ground. "_I feel so safe around him..._ Ok, ok."

Shikamaru wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close to him, and with his other arm pointed up to the sky. "Look..."

She looked up to the sky, and only saw a bunch of stars scattered across the sky in the moonlight. "...uh... what am I looking at..."

Shikamaru sat up directly over Ino, and held his thumb up to the sky. He then lay back down, without moving his thumb over Ino. "Look where my thumb is at..."

Confused, Ino peered up at his hand, and focused right above the tip of his thumb. There was a small red star, which she some how missed before. "It's pretty... but why are you showing me this?"

He smiled up at the star pleasantly, "Every night, I look up at this star, just like I watch the clouds during the day. It always made me feel relaxed, safe... and it's always there... glowing bright and strong every night when I look up. Well... anyways, what I was thinking was, this could be our star..." He turned his head towards her, "...because I want us to always stay strong and safe, just like the star up there... _Whoa ho-ho! You sly devil, you! You're a genius!_"

Ino sat up quickly looking forward. "Shikamaru..."

He sat up with her, "...do you not like the idea?"

She turned around, with tears running down her face. She lashed forward, and wrapped her arms around him tightly. "Shikamaruuu! I love you!!" She began blubbering in onto his chest, while he lightly patted her shoulder.

"I love you too... _Hehe, she's so cute right now. Annoying as hell, but it's so cute..._" He held her close, and rubbed her back, comforting her sobbing.

She glanced up to him sniffling, "I'm... I'm sorry I'm crying so much... that was just... so sweet of you to say..."

He looked down on her, and touched his index finger to the tip of her nose. "Don't cry, I want to see you smile, ok? _Oh, shoot, you're on a roll now!_"

She giggled, and smiled while sniffling still. "...Shikamaru, you're... different than usual. What happened...?"

Shikamaru paused when he realized that she was right. His appearance became unsure and confused, while he thought about how he had changed. "Well... I guess I'm in love. It makes guys do things differently... I suppose."

She smiled while looking into his eyes, and crawled up to lock lips with him again. After they kissed, she pulled away and smiled to see him grinning back towards her.

"_I hope everything..._"

"... _works out between us..._"

"_I love him so much..._"

"_I love her..._"

The both thought at the same moment, while watching each other speechlessly, "_Everything has to work... it has to._"


	20. Hinata's Options

Section 20: Hinata's Options

Hinata sauntered into her bedroom slowly, trying not to be noticed. She sat down in bed, and was ready to lie down slowly. Then a light ignited from outside the hallway, and Shino was standing in the doorway with a lit match. He shook it out the flame, and hung the lamp against the wall.

"Good evening Hinata."

"Hello Shino-sama..."

Shino walked over to Hinata, and sat down next to her. "Why were you sneaking around?"

"...I just didn't want to bother anyone, and I had a bad day anyways."

He looked at her slightly puzzled, "...Why? ... aren't you and Naruto...?"

Hinata lashed her head up slightly, "No... he's happy right now with how things already are between us."

"...but... I saw you... kiss him."

Hinata drew back in fright, "Y...y... you were there, Shino-sama?!"

Shino sighed shamefully, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been shamefully spying on you. I just..."

Hinata curled up with tears in her eyes, "...just what... why..." Shino sighed, looked away from Hinata, and got up from the bed. Just as he was about to leave, Hinata called out, "Shino-sama... wait!" Shino jerked to a halt, and turned his head back partially. "...Did you mean what you said earlier?"

"Mean what?"

"H...How you said you didn't like anyone... you don't?" Shino began to sweat nervously, and tried to force out words so he wouldn't look suspicious. "Shino-sama... why don't you tell me... I'll help you get her attention for you... if you let me."

"I can't do it. I don't want to tell her right now... I'm sorry..."

Hinata jumped up in excitement, "No! No! We don't need to tell her yet! Just tell me so I know who it is!"

Shino turned away solemnly, "I can't..."

Hinata latched herself onto Shino's jacket, and started tugging in a pleading fashion, "Please tell me Shino-sama, its ok!"

Shino stood still, clinching his fist tightly. Sweat ran down steadily around his sunglasses, and he started to panic. He looked down at her, and into her light blue eyes. He could never really think straight when he looked into her eyes, and he just never had the nerve to tell her. "_She doesn't like you... you're just a freaky kid who likes bugs, and never talks... Why would she like you?_"

Hinata sighed, and leaned against Shino's chest, "...I'm sorry I'm being so annoying.... I'll stop..."

"It's you..."

Hinata heard, and pulled her head up gasping to look up at Shino. Her eyes were glassed over with surprised tears. "...Shino-sama...?"

Shino stood still, without looking down, "All I could do... was help you out with Naruto. It was the only way you'd be happy." Hinata curled up clutching his jacket tightly in shame. "It hurt a lot, because I wanted you to notice me sometimes, maybe like me or something. I guess that was stupid of me, to wait for you to notice."

Hinata remembered what Naruto told her earlier that night.

Flashback:

Naruto pops up saying, "I'm sorry love sucks so much."

A different image of Naruto pops up saying, "I don't know, it seems as if everyone loves someone they could probably never have..."

"I'm sorry Shino-sama..." Shino looked down at Hinata a little surprised. "I... I chased someone I could never have... and ended up ignoring others around me."

Shino held her closely, comforting her while she opened up. "Hinata, don't beat yourself up..."

"...Shino-sama."

Shino pulled her back, and looked down at her solemnly, "...but there's something I want you to know." Hinata glanced up questionably at what Shino had to say. "Kiba... he's always cared about you."

"K...Kiba...? But he always..."

"...doesn't seem like it? I know..." Hinata stepped back, and looked up at Shino in confusion. "He so dense, he doesn't even notice that he likes you."

"..._I...I didn't know people could do that..._" Hinata curled up and blushed, "_No wonder he hated Naruto-kun so much..."_ She clinched her eyelids shut,"_I've never felt so confused before!_"

"Don't worry about me, Hinata-chan... I know you are."

Hinata shot her head up, and opened her tear soaked eyes, "I can't! I have to worry about you..."

Shino looked away, and turned his back to Hinata. "Try not to..." He walked out of the room, leaving Hinata standing in the center of the room.

"_I...I don't know what to do..._"


	21. My Inspiration

Section 21: My Inspiration

Rock Lee stood in his room, staring at the reflection of himself against the training mirror across the wall. He poked and rubbed his eye brows in a dissatisfied manner, then flung his arms down to his side angrily.

"_You look terrible! No wonder Sakura-chan would never, ever like you enough!_"

"Lee-san..?" Lee turned around quickly, being slightly startled. He saw Tenten standing in the back entrance with arm loads of Kunai holsters. "You're back late, where were you?"

Lee looked back forward towards his reflection, "Finding out some things..."

"Oh, well I was worried about you! And I hope you found out what you needed to."

"...Tenten?" Tenten was startled by the tone of Lee's voice, being serious and stern. "...what do you think of Sakura-chan?"

Tenten looked at him oddly, "What do you mean? She's a very smart ninja... and..."

"No... I mean, do you think its ok for me to like her...?"

Tenten opens her eyes widely, and drops one of the belts she had in her arms. "You... like her?" She looks down to the ground with melancholy in her eyes, while her arms, along with the belts, lowered slowly. "...I didn't know."

"...She wouldn't like me... because I'm ugly right?"

Tenten shot up dropping all the belts on the ground, "You aren't ugly! Even if you were it shouldn't matter, you're an amazing guy! Who wouldn't lo..." She gasped at what she was saying.

"Sakura-chan wouldn't..."

Tenten kneeled to the ground hopelessly, picking up the belts she had hurled to the floor. She worked silently, which drew Lee to turn towards her in curiosity. He saw her disappointed expression, and felt responsible for it.

"I'm sorry Tenten... You probably think I'm stupid for thinking any girl would like a ninja reject like me."

She rocketed up, with only the belts she had picked up already, "No! You're more of a ninja than most! Don't say things like that..."

"What kind of girl would like me then? Everyone makes fun of how I look, how I can't use ninjitsu or genjitsu, even how I respect Gai-sensei so much."

Tenten shut her eyes, trying to ignore the blows Lee was giving himself. "_Stop it... Stop it, Lee! _STOP!"

Lee froze up due to Tenten's outburst. "Tenten...?"

"Don't be so... mean to yourself... I... like you, so please... stop."

"But Tenten, I thought you always liked Neji, you always used to tell me and..."

"...you always listened. You were always there for me." Lee looked towards her, startled from her commentary. "You were always an inspiration... and I grew to like you a lot, underneath it all."

"...but Tenten, I'm a terrible ninja, Neji is far better than I am..."

"No... it isn't your ability I respect. You... never gave up. Seeing you try so hard for something so out of reach, to achieve your dreams... It made me want to be like you. I only use weapons, and people look at me as being weak. Lee... you make me feel strong like you."

Lee stood solidly without flinching, he wasn't sure if this was a dream or not. "...Tenten?

"I'm sorry, heh. I just wanted you to know... that I was sorry for always putting you down with Neji..."

Lee looked off with a lack of self-assurance, "You have the right! ...I try so hard, and I can't even become a great ninja like I said I would."

Tenten stared back, "... but like Gai-sensei said... you already are a great ninja." She laughed back nervously, "Unlike me, hehe..."

"Ohhhh-ahhhh, that's not true! Everyone has the ability to be a good ninja with hard work! I think you do great with your weapons!"

Tenten blushed, "Thank you Lee..."

Lee stared back puzzled, "..._Why is Tenten acting so strange...? Since when does she feel I'm not a joke?_"


	22. Is This A Dream?

Section 22: Is This A Dream?

Sakura whispers, "Shut up Naruto! Do you want to be caught or something."

"Eh! eh! I am quiet already, relax!" Naruto climbed up Sakura's bedroom balcony, and fell to the floor on his face, upon jumping over the rail.

"You loud idiot! You're going to get us caught! I should have never let you come up here!"

"...but you asked me to come up with you, Sakura-chan..."

Sakura realized he was right and grew angry, "So?! Just shut up and be quiet!"

Sakura's mom's voice bellows from behind the door, "Sakura-chan? Are you home yet?"

Sakura panicked, "Ahh!" She whispered in a frantic fashion, "You've got to hide now!" She grabbed Naruto, who was very confused into why she was so worried.

Keeping his voice down, "Sa...! Sakura-chan! Wait!" She shoved him into her closet, where all of her red outfits hung, and shut the door quickly, clipping Naruto's nose in the process.

Naruto screamed from inside the closet, "Ahh! What the hell!" Sakura raced over to her bedroom door, and flung it open. "Mom! Hi, I'm back home, alone, yes, heh!" He mom silently walked in with a curious look on her face.

"Alone, eh?" Sakura recoiled in horror from her mother's suspicious tone. Her mom's eyes turned towards the closet Naruto was nestled in.

Sakura began to panic, "No, I'm alone! Heh!" Sakura's mother then reacted by lashing around and tearing open the closet door. Sakura gasped, knowing Naruto was in there. Sakura's mom looked into the closet, and just saw a rack full of Sakura's red dresses.

"Hmm... alright." She closed the door and looked back at Sakura. "I'm sorry I didn't trust you honey, have a good night alright? And don't forget to wash up!"

"I won't, Mom... _Where the hell did Naruto go...?_"

"Goodnight Sakura!" she said as she left down the hall.

Sakura shut the door defensively, and shot over to the closet, jerking it open. "Naruto?!" She stuck her head around through the opening, and slid her clothes back and forth frantically. She then noticed one of her dresses in the back corner. It was darker than the rest, so her eyes narrowed at the realization. "...Naruto..."

In a poof of smoke, Sakura's darker outfit turned back into Naruto, who was rubbing his head modestly. "Pretty good, huh?"

Sakura smiled and blushed, "Awesome Naruto." She turned away coyly, twisting her foot nervously. "So I've got my mom off my back now."

Naruto steps out of the closet and by Sakura, sitting down on here bed. "This is the first time I've been here! Oooo, your bed is better than mine." Sakura maneuvered her way over to the edge of the bed, and sat down very close to Naruto. He looked over to her nervously, with a severely reddened face. "S...Sakura-chan? What are you doing? _Oh no... what's going on?!_"

Sakura leaned towards Naruto with a large, flirtatious smile on her face. She sat there blushing with her lips puckered, waiting for Naruto's reaction. He sat there frozen solid, with sweat running down his face. "Uh... Sakura-chan...? I'm not... a good kisser."

Sakura opened her eyes, and grinned, "It's ok..." She leaned against Naruto's shoulder, still flushed and smiling.

Naruto looked down at her, seeing the top of her pink hair, with a panicked look on his face. "_Now that this has happened, I don't know what to do!_" He did the only thing he could think of at the time, he wrapped his arm around her and held her without saying anything.

Sakura sighed happily, "Naruto... do you think its ok for me to be confused..."

He looked down questionably, "What do you mean?"

"I... don't know...You and me, what are we, what will we be?" She curled up sadly. "...Do you know Naruto?"

Naruto looked away with thought, "_Hmm... she likes Sasuke though... she has for the longest time. What right do I have... to make her change her mind. _Why do you like me anyways... you never used to."

Sakura sat up with malcontent, "I know already... I... don't know how to explain it. When you saved me from the sand, helped me with Sasuke... I don't know... I fell for you."

Naruto had an idiot's face on him, "...You knew about the sand?"

"Yes. Sasuke told me everything..." Sakura shot up happily, "I may not know much about myself, or anyone around me.... But I...I love you now. That's something I do know."

Naruto looked back at her, frightened at the thought of finally getting the attention of the girl he's liked. Then he smiled happily, "Thank you, I've always loved you, and still love you too." Naruto rubbed the back of his head uneasily, laughing to try to hide his apprehension. "_Is this really happening, or am I just dreaming again_ _as usual?_"


	23. Meet My Dad, Shikamaru

Section 23: Meet My Dad, Shikamaru...

"C'mon Ino, it's getting late, and I don't feel like walking all the way to your house."

"Please! I want you to stay over... pleassssseee!"

"_Ugh... I guess she's caught on to the fact that I'm a whipped bastard now._" Shikamaru sighs helplessly, "Fine, I'll stay over your stupid house."

Ino bounced up, and latched on wildly to Shikamaru's arm, "Ahh! Thank you Shika-baby!"

Shikamaru bolted his head in anger, "I told you to stop calling me that! _Shika-baby, pshh... It makes me sound so stupid._"

Ino cuddled against his arm in a loving way, "Oh c'mon, you love it sweetie!"

Shikamaru slapped his palm onto his face in disgust with himself, "_This relationship stuff bites. She'll never call you by your real name ever again._"

Ino dragged an unenthusiastic Shikamaru all the way across town to her small home. She knocked on the door, since she had forgotten her key at Shikamaru's house. Answering the door was Ino's father, Inoshi.

"Ino, you're late!" He looks over and sees Shikamaru standing there. "...and what's Shikamaru doing here?"

"Well...Daddy, can he pleassssseee stay over?!"

"Why would you want to spend the night together? It's not like you two are in love or anything!" Inoshi began to laugh at his joke, unknowingly.

"Hehe... well, that's not entirely...true." Shikamaru said rubbing the back of his head. Ino looked over to him and gasped in fear. She looked back at her father who was standing in the doorway silently now.

"...Oh...Really... So my little girl has met a guy now...?" He places his fist firmly in the palm of his other hand, and began to crack his knuckles in an intimidating fashion.

Ino looked at him in horror, "_Shikamaru! You've done it now!_" Shikamaru looked up at Inoshi, who's eyes had noticeable flames, and too a big gulp.

Inoshi held out his hand and said holding back his anger, "Since you are with my daughter... it's a custom to shake hands..."

Shikamaru reluctantly lifted his hand, and held it out in front of him. Inoshi grabbed his hand, and shook it normally. Shikamaru smiled nervously, "Th...Thank you, sir." Inoshi's grip tightened and his teeth clinched tightly in anger during his threatening smile.

Inoshi released Shikamaru's hand, and moved out of the doorway. "Come on in." Ino walked in first, with an expression of humiliation from her father's actions. Following her was Shikamaru, who looked up nervously at Inoshi. Inoshi looked down at him with his eyes narrowed, and flames manifested behind him through Shikamaru's imagination.

"_Oh man, this is bad..._" he thought as he could feel the death stares to his back as he continued past Inoshi. Him and Ino headed straight to her room, trying to avoid Inoshi and all of his overprotective fatherly rage.

Inoshi stepped between the door-way of her room, with his arms crossed still giving Shikamaru the stare down. "Now, he can stay under one condition Ino..."

Ino rolled her eyes, and began to get irritated with her nagging father. "Yes dad...?"

"You have to clean the flower shop before you go to bed, it's a filthy mess you know?"

Ino flailed her arms up, "Dad! C'mon!"

"Humph, then the boy leaves..."

Ino cringes, "...Fine I'll go!" She stomps out down the hall, moving around Inoshi. He watches her head down the hall, and then turns quickly back to Shikamaru. Shikamaru flies back in fear, holding up his arms defensively. Inoshi approaches him in a sinister way, with an evil grin on his face. He leans forward with his hand extended in a threatening pose.

He latches onto Shikamaru's shoulder, "...I trust you boy. You're the son of my long time partner, so I'd have it no other way.

Shikamaru grinned in relief, "Thanks."

Inoshi lashes his finger into Shikamaru's face suddenly, "...but if you ever hurt my Ino..." He grinned sinisterly, "...I'll kill you, understand?"

Shikamaru sat there with a nervous grin, "Of course, of course... _Aye, Aye, Aye... Love is a death wish._"

Inoshi stood up straight looking down on Shikamaru, "...and no funny business... or I won't just kill you, I'll do it slowly."

Shikamaru gulped nervously, "_...definitely a death wish..._"

Ino popped through the doorway and saw her father's intimidating tactics. "Dad! Stop it!" She ran over in between the two, and started pushing Inoshi out of her room. "Stop scaring him!"

Trying to resist the pushing, "...but..! No...! Wait...!"

"I did what you ask, now leave me alone!" She got him out, and shut the door behind him with a slam.

Inoshi lashed around, opened the door again, and peaked through towards Shikamaru. "Remember boy...!"

"DAD!" Inoshi retreated and shut the door. Ino sighed, and turned to the scarred Shikamaru. "I'm sorry about my dad... are you ok?"

Shikamaru scratched his head in confusion, "I guess I am... he's a scary dude... _and he knew me too. I can imagine what would have happened if he didn't._"

Ino jumps onto Shikamaru, making him lay back onto her bed. She positioned herself over him, "Oh, c'mon, its just my dad, he would never do anything to you!" She gave him a quick, but loving kiss, "I promise!"

Shikamaru smiled back, "Alright then, but could you get up though? You're crushing me."

Ino shot up as if she were severely offended, "Crushing you?! What're you saying I'm FAT?!" A large drop of sweat rolled down the side of his head, as he sighed disconsolately, "_...Women... I've got my hands full now..._"


	24. Hinata's Setup

Section 24: Hinata's Setup

Shino and Hinata sat on the roof top silently, without looking at each other. Hinata took her peeks at the remaining motionless Shino. "_Is he mad at me now... _Shino-sama?"

Shino glanced over, "Yea?"

Hinata dropped her head down, and started to twiddle her thumbs, "...The reason I was asking if you liked any girls..." Shino looked over curiously. "...Well there's a new girl who came here, who I overheard talking about you. I thought that you might have met her before... and maybe even like her."

He turned and faced forward, "There aren't many girls who like the fact I have bugs in me... I doubt this one will."

Hinata turned her head towards him, "...even if she was in the same clan as you are...?" Shino sat there stunned. He had never known of any girls from his clan, he never thought of it really. "She found out you were here... and wanted to meet you... I think it would be nice if you met... so..."

Shino turned to her panicking, "...What'd you do?!"

Hinata curled up, "I told her to come and see you here... right before I went to see Naruto-kun... I'm sorry!"

Shino looked worried from what he just learned, and started sweating profusely. "_A girl... Wants to meet me? I don't know... If I can handle it..._" Before he knew it, there was a large rapping on the front door, which drew Shino to dive forward to the edge of the roof. He peeked over the edge to see who it was, and he saw a blue haired female in a black vest, wearing a familiar pair of sunglasses.

She seemed to be nervous, swaying back and forth, as Shino hid still watching her. Hinata snuck up behind whispering, "Shino-sama, aren't you going to talk to her?"

"...No... I can't" Hinata sighed sadly, and got up from the roof-top. She started climbing up to the window, while Shino remained at the edge watching. "_...she's pretty... but you don't even know her!_"

Shino felt a strand tickling on his face, as he noticed the bugs were filtering out of his body, and crawling down the base of the house. He popped up when he noticed they were crawling towards the girl below. "_What are they doing!? Those damn bugs!!_"

When he looked closely, he noticed begs were coming out from her vest sides and pockets as well. His and her bugs met and started to mix, and she noticed it. She trailed the path of his bugs up to him perched on the roof.

"...Shino?" Shino recoiled in fright, and stood up slowly.

"...Hi."

The girl looked up blushing to Shino, and then jumped up onto the roof next to him. She nervously stepped up to him biting her lip. She waved bashfully, "... I... I'm... Romi..."

Shino stood there silent, blushing significantly. "_Those mischievous bugs... did that on purpose! Hinata too! They all set me up, humph..._" He forced his words out, despite his hesitation when it came to girls. "Hi, nice too... m...meet you, heh."

Romi leaned straight up, trying to regain her composure, since she was just as nervous as Shino was. She smiled, and looked down to the ground. Their two bands of insects were still mixing together, her red bugs and his black ones. "They seem to like each other!" She giggled nervously.

Shino's eyebrows rose up, and he gave off a soft chuckle. Hinata pops up from the window in amazement and surprise to hear Shino laugh.

A few windows down, Kiba smashes open his window looking left and right, "Do NOT tell me I was hearing things! Shino laughed?!" He spotted Shino, and pointed yelling hysterically, "I heard you laugh! Holy crap! Ha ha!... huh?" Kiba noticed Romi standing next to him, and cracked a huge smile. "Who's the hottie?! Holy shit Shino! You met a girl too! YEA!"

Shino looked over towards Kiba, with a large drop of sweat running down the side of his head. "_What a crazy ass..._" He turned towards Romi, and she was looking at him engagingly.

She leaned forward and grinned, "You want to go somewhere... to talk or something?"

Shino smiled, "I'd... like that."

She grabbed his hand, "Come with me! I want to show you something!" He nodded, and they headed off, leaving Kiba and Hinata in the windows.

"Hey! Where are you two going?!" Kiba started screaming out the window.

Hinata looked over to Kiba screaming in his window, "_Should I... talk to him now? I'd be doing it again..._" She sighed with discontent, "_What a weird night..._" She looked towards Shino and the new girl, Romi, and smiled happily. "_But Shino-sama... he looks happy with her, I hope things work between them._"


	25. Lee! I'm Proud!

Section 25: Lee! I'm Proud!

Lee still stared over at Tenten with confusion to why she had the change of heart. He remembered all the things she had said before the exam, about how he'd never be as powerful as Neji. He scratched his head due to the memories, and glanced over to the still blushing Tenten.

"_What's going on?_" Lee's confusion began to bother him, so he got up from the crouch he was in and headed out of the room.

"Wait..." Lee halted and turned back to Tenten, who was holding out her hand nervously, "...are you mad at me?"

He smiled reassuringly, "Of course not, you just were saying how you feel about me, that's ok."

Tenten burst forward towards Lee, "No! No... I was wrong... I don't feel that way anymore. I... want you to understand that!"

Lee brushed her off, slightly annoyed, "Thank you, but if you're trying to mess around with me, you've done it already."

Tenten curled up sadly, "No... I mean it all." Lee looked at her questionably, and noticed her behavior was as if she was telling the truth. His eyes filled with guilt, and he walked over to her.

"...Thank you very much, Tenten. That means a lot to me, you know." He lifted his arm up, giving the nerdy thumbs up once again, followed by the shimmering smile.

Tenten smiled and looked away from him nervously, "Lee...?" He looked up surprised, and lowered his arm. "...do you remember when I told you that you'd find a girl that overlooks your appearance?"

"...yea? _Where are you going with this?_"

"Well, would you be mad if I said I could be that girl... because I'm not Sakura or anything."

Lee didn't really know how to answer, so he just stood silent. "_What... should I say? Girls... don't ever like me. I don't know how to deal with this... Sakura-chan... doesn't like me anyways... and I always wished I had Tenten's attention..._" He took a deep breath, trying to accept how things were between him and everyone he was close to.

Tenten turned away, ashamed and embarrassed, "I...I'm sorry Lee... I'll go."

"...No, its ok... I know how it feels, to like someone who doesn't notice you because of another person." He reached out and grabbed Tenten, pulling her close to him, "I promise I won't do that to you, though." She looked up, surprised that he was treating her so well, after the past that they had. She curled up in embarrassment. "...I'd like that by the way."

She looked up at him surprised and confused, "...like what...?"

Lee looked down on her, and smiled brightly with his eyes arched upwards, "...If you were that girl, that I would find."

Tenten's eyes widened and she buried her head in his chest to hide her expression from him. "_I didn't think he'd like me back..._" She closed her eyes, "I'm sorry that I can't be Sakura for you... but I'll try my best to be like her."

Lee took his hand and held her head to his chest, "I don't want you to be like her, just stay the way you are... that's the girl I like now."

Suddenly, the ceiling began to creek unsettlingly. Both Lee and Tenten heard and looked up to where the creek came from, curious to what it was.

With a loud crash, a dark figure plummeted through the ceiling, landing onto a small table in the room. Lee and Tenten lashed back in horror and surprise, until the smoke and dust cleared out of the way.

"Gai-sensei! What're you doing!?" Lee shouted, pointing at his disheveled teacher.

Gai stood up straight with a goofy smile on him, "I heard everything, Lee! And I'm proud of my pupil for not only being a great ninja, but also having the ability to gain the attention of the ladies!" Gai flung his thumb up with a big grin on his face.

Lee smiled brightly, while Tenten looked away blushing in embarrassment. "Thanks Gai-sensei! I hope me and Tenten..." Lee glances over to her, "...could have something!"

Tenten looked back over to Lee, and nodded to him, "Yea...!"

Gai began bawling like a baby all of a sudden, "Two of my best student found love that blossomed like a lotus during a perfect spring!" He dove forward, and hugged both of them tightly.

Lee and Tenten both had frightened faces, as their teacher cried onto their shoulders. Tenten reached with her free arm and pat Gai on the shoulder for comfort.

Lee forced out his words despite the tight grip of Gai's arms, "Hehe, it's ok Gai-sensei... but could you loosen the grip a little, so we can... live!"

Gai pulled back smiling with the tears in his eyes, "So, what's going to happen between you two you think...? Get married?! Have kids?!"

Sweat drops roll down the back of both Lee's and Tenten's heads, and Lee mutters, "...We're only thirteen Gai-sensei..."

Gai lashes back, standing up, and starts to rub his head, "Ohhh!? I'm sure you two will be great anyway!" He flings his arm forward, except making his movements more elaborate than necessary. "I'm so proud, Lee!"

Lee bounced up and flung forward, and yelled in a spastic tone, "Thank you so much, Gai-sensei!"

Tenten was off to the side of Gai's and Lee's goofy testosterone overflow, sighing unenthusiastically but with a grin, "_... They're both so goofy... and Lee's pretty much insane._" She looked over blushing towards Lee while he and Gai yelled at each other happily, "_...but I guess that's what I love about him._"


	26. Rise and Shine!

Chapter 26: Rise and Shine

The sun rose up over the horizon at last, and the villages Hokage's monument lit up from dawn sunlight. The birds chirping grew louder and more prominent as the morning sun scanned across the shaded city side.

The sun poured through the doorway of Sakura's balcony door, finding its way to the bed on the right side of the room. The sunlight crept up the side of the bed, and Naruto's slumbering body, until in reached his eyes. The light passed over his face, causing him to wake, holding his hand up to the light shielding his eyes.

"Morning already...?" He tried to rise up from his prone position, until he noticed that his other arm was caught onto something. He looked over with squinted and groggy eyes, to see Sakura still sleeping attached to his arm affectionately. Naruto looked down pleasantly, "_I'll stay with her until she wakes..._" He stared up at the ceiling with wonder flowing through his mind. "_...what a weird night..._"

In the forest right outside of Konoha, the trees rustled quietly, as the morning sounds began ringing about. The breeze blew the leaves and debris around, and the weather was seemingly perfect.

Shino woke, to find himself leaning against a tree in a sitting position. He looked up slightly confused, "_Why am I here? Where's Romi?_" He got up, and looked around calmly as usual. He started wandering around, while keeping alert for any signs of the missing Romi. He headed through a patch of bushes towards a small brook.

He glanced over at the river bank, to see Romi there collecting water. "Oh, Hi Shino! I'm sorry I felt you sleeping like that, you just seemed so peaceful, and I didn't want to wake you." She held up the filled pitcher of water, "I was going to try to make something for you to surprise you before you woke up..."

He started walking over towards her, "Oh it's ok... I'm sorry I ruined your surprise though."

She looked back, "No, no... I'll just make you something now, instead!" She smiles, and looked back at the brook, continuing with what she was doing before he arrived.

After some time, she had made some rice she had handy, and was packing it together as Shino watched. "_Why don't you help her or something...?_" He bent down next to her, while she packed the rice together, "...Can I help you out at all...?"

She looked up to him and smiled, "Sure!" She handed him the rice ball she was working on, "...try it and tell me how I did..."

Shino looked down at his hand, which now had a molded rice ball in it. His eyebrow raised up questionably, since that wasn't what he had in mind. "_Oh well... I am kind of hungry anyways..._" He bit into the ball happily, and took a long deep swallow. He bounced back in amazement, "Whoa... this is good..."

She shot up in excitement, "You think so?! Awww...!" She leaned forward into Shino, and kissed him lightly on the cheek, "You're so sweet, everyone said you weren't very talkative... I'm glad they were wrong."

Shino's eyebrows both raised up, and he sighed in relief, "_...I'm glad I met Romi, and I'm glad Hinata got me to open up a little too... Thanks Hinata..._"

Romi finished packing the rest of her things up, and bounced up, "So... what do you want to do now?!"

Shino sat there thinking of what she'd like to do, rather than thinking of what he'd rather do. He remembered what Hinata had said before, about how people will like him no matter what. Shino took a deep breath and looked back at Romi, "You want to... go collect bugs with me? I'm way down on my collection, and thought you might want to come with me."

Romi looked back at him and smiled, "Me too! And that sounds like fun, where should we go, then?"

Shino relaxed himself and lit up, "Let's go back into town to get our insect boxes first..."

Romi closed her eyes, smiled, and nodded, "Yup!"

Shikamaru lay comfortably across Ino's bed, still sleeping soundly with a grin on his face.

Suddenly, Ino dove onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck, while waking him from his pleasant slumber. "Shikamaru! Wake up lazy!" she yelled in a playful tone.

Shikamaru groaned, "_Wow... what an annoyance, she didn't let me sleep most of the night with her obsessive kissing... I need SLEEP!_" He rolled his eyes in frustration, "I'm getting up already!"

"We're going to the center of the city today, so get up and get ready, ok?" Ino joyfully headed over to her closet and started getting out her clothes.

Shikamaru popped his head up, "What do you mean we're going? You mean you're going because I'm not..."

Ino dives over towards Shikamaru, and viciously grabs him by his shirt, telling him in a very intimidating fashion, "WE'RE going, and you're going to like it! Got it?!"

Shikamaru grew real small, "Ok..."

She backed up and regained her happy attitude, "Good! Thanks sweetie!"

Shikamaru sighed, "_I'm just like my father now, eh... at least it's for someone I love I guess..._" He opened his eyes, and saw Ino in from of him half naked in her underwear, and recoiled in surprise, "Ino?! What are you doing!"

Ino rolled her eyes, "Pshh, I'm getting dressed, what's the big deal?" Just as she said that, her door opened behind her. It was Inoshi who came in, and looked in shock at Ino. "DAD!?"

"Eh!? I'm sorry honey!" He leaned back out of the doorway in embarrassment, until he noticed Shikamaru sitting up on Ino's bed. His eyes filled with flames of anger, and he grunted like a raging bull.

Shikamaru suddenly struck with fear, "_Crap!_"

Inoshi pointed to him slowly, "You..." He clinched his fist threateningly, "... I said no funny business!"

Shikamaru shot up in a panic and headed out the window as fast as he could, "Time to go!"

Inoshi blasted by Ino and reached for Shikamaru's neck, "Come back here you scoundrel!"

"Dad, no! Stop! Don't hurt him, it's not his fault!" Ino pleaded as he father crawled out the window and chased Shikamaru outside. Inoshi's war cries died off as the two disappeared off in the distance. "... poor Shikamaru!"


	27. Jealousy Rules

Section 27: Jealousy Rules

Sakura and Naruto walk down the long dirt road with each other, and both seemed reasonably cheery. They were heading to the center of town for the Genin meeting address from the Hokage, Tsunade.

Sakura, blushing, glanced over to the unaware Naruto as they headed down the long dirt road. "_It feels weird having a kare... especially since it's a boy like Naruto... I should probably tell everyone soon... because I know he won't... Plus, I'd want to see the looks on their faces when I tell them that I love Naruto anyways! Their jaws will hit the floor!_"

"Sakura-chan...?" Naruto was looking over at her with a stupefied expression, "..are you ok? You're all red!"

Sakura smiled back, "_What an idiot... he thinks I'm sick and doesn't understand I'm blushing_... No I'm fine! Thanks Naruto..." The two continued down the road until they reached a wall of people, all crowding around in the center of the village.

"Awww, damn it! We can't see anything!" He crossed his arms in disappointment, "This sucks!"

"Idiotttttt!" Naruto turns back to Shikamaru, who is running up to him frantically with a distressed look. When he reached Naruto, he grabbed him by his outfit in desperation, "Look... you got to hide me! This crazy blonde guy is after me! If you see him... tell him you didn't see me!"

"...Ah-reh?" Naruto watched him pass by, and jump into the shadows of a side entrance. Then he heard and saw in the far distance, Inoshi running up screaming still.

When Inoshi reached Sakura and Naruto, he halted and leaned forward, huffing and puffing for air. "Where's that boy!? That Shikamaru!?"

"Oh, hi Ino's dad! Eh, he's right in there..." he said pointing exactly when Shikamaru was.

Sakura flew forward, "Naruto!"

Shikamaru flew out of the shadows, "You idiot!!" Inoshi shot his head towards Shikamaru, drawing him to jump back in fear. "Look... look Mr. Yamanaka... nothing happened, and this is..." He chuckles nervously, "...this is all just a big misunderstanding, right?"

Darkness fell over Inoshi's figure, and his eyes lit up in fury, "Do you take me for a fool?!" He slowly started stepping forward with his hands held out, ready to strangle someone.

Naruto looked at the two in confusion, "Huh? What's going on?!"

Sakura bashed Naruto over the head, "Idiot! Why'd you have to tell Inoshi where he was?!"

"I didn't know...!" Naruto retaliated, waving his fist around.

Shikamaru curled up in petrifaction after being cornered into the shadowy nook. "_Crap! He's going to give me the beating of my life!_"

Ino then came out of no where and jumped in front of Shikamaru, covering him up, "Don't dad! ... Leave him alone... It was my fault that I was like that."

"You mean you SHOWED him your half naked body?!" Inoshi shouted, pulling back in shock.

Sakura and Naruto shoot up screaming, "EHH?!?! Half-naked body?!?!"

"Dad... me and Shikamaru are together... I'm sorry... I just thought it'd be ok..."

Naruto looks out of the corner of his at Sakura with a disenchanted look, "...You never show me your half-naked body..."

Sakura bashes him over his skull in rage, "Idiot! Don't push your luck!"

Inoshi sighed despondently, "Ino... I should be sorry; I'm just being overprotective of you." Points suddenly towards Shikamaru, "...but if you hurt my baby... I'll break you in two!" Inoshi started to walk off without saying anything else, "I'll see you at home, Ino."

Both Shikamaru and Ino sigh in relaxation, and slump into each others embrace.

Naruto runs in front of them, "I can't believe you two are together now! What the hell is that!"

Shikamaru smugly nudges his chin up at Naruto, "Humph... you're just jealous because you don't have anyone..." Naruto looks back at the two, and looks down to the ground shamefully.

Sakura looks over to him, and smirks in a concerned fashion, "_I knew he wouldn't say anything... _That's not true!" She walked up next to Naruto, and affectionately leaned up against him, with her arms wrapped around his shoulders. "Me and Naruto are together now too!"

Shikamaru and Ino both lashed out at once, "EHH?!?! Are you serious?!"

Shikamaru put his hand to Sakura's forehead, "Are you feeling alright?!" He points to Naruto in disbelief, "Him?! The idiot?!"

Naruto gunned forward holding his fist out to Shikamaru, "What do you mean idiot?!"

Sakura stayed back, giggling at Naruto's reaction, "He's my idiot now!" She walked over slowly next to him, and kissed him on his cheek. Naruto grinned ostentatiously towards Shikamaru, in response.

Shikamaru turned pale in disbelief, "...Naruto... has a cuter girl than I do..."

Ino grabbed Shikamaru by his shirt, and pulled him violently close to her face, "What do you mean CUTER?! Maybe, if you like girls with big foreheads!"

Sakura twitched her head towards Ino angrily, "Well at least I'm not hideous like you, Ino-pig!"

Ino waved her fist furiously in front of her face, "What'd you say!?" The two locked eyes combatively, and a clashing blot of electricity manifested between them. Naruto and Shikamaru stood in the background, rubbing their heads in embarrassment.

They coincidentally both thought at the same time, "_...Girls..._" They both then sighed helplessly, while their girlfriends went at it.

-------

Shino and Romi walked together up to the entrance to town, where they both halted holding a bug cage each, full of a variety of different insects they've collected. Shino looked down at the box, satisfied while Romi shyly watched him out of the corner of her eye.

"You look happy, Shino."

He looked back up at her, "Oh... yea, I guess I am." He scratched his head nervously with his only free hand, "I'm just glad I have some one now, that I can share an interest with."

Romi bounced up smiling brightly, "Oh? I'm glad you feel better!"

"... and I'm glad it's you, Romi." She opened her eyes and looked back a little stunned, "I had a really great time with you." She looked down blushing with a small grin on her.

"Eh? Shino?" Shino looked over to where the voice came from and saw Rock Lee standing on a tree branch with a baffled look on his face. "Since when do you have an ichuunoonna?"

Shino dropped his head as a drop of sweat rolled down his head, while Romi stood behind his blushing at the thought.

Tenten flew in jumping, landing next to Lee wheezing, "...Lee...! You're too fast...! Wait up for me next time!"

Lee rubbed the back of his head, which was turned towards Tenten standing next to him, "Sorry Tenten...!"

She leaned into Lee, giving him a kiss on the cheek, "Its ok, honey..."

Shino froze up and looked at them both, "...Honey...?!" His eyebrow rose questionably, and the sound of glass breaking rings in the background as a sound effect, "...since when do YOU have an ichuunoonna?!"

"Heh... last night... it was weird, just happened." Lee leaned back nervously, "...I still don't get how it happened really."

"Oh..." Shino shrugged up to them, "Ok...?" He noticed a rustling to his left, and peered over cautiously at a large bush next to him.

Out came Neji, who had been gone for a couple of days before then. Tenten noticed him popping out, and waved frantically "Neji! You're back!"

He glanced up real quick, then looked away again, "Yea... my training went better than planned... But, what's going on here?"

Shino looked over to Neji with his arms crossed, "Lee and Tenten were finished telling me about their new relationship..." Neji's head twitched slightly in shock, and then looked up at the pair in disbelief.

"_Tenten... and Lee? What... happened?_" He clenched his lips tightly, "_Why him...? ...I could have sworn she liked me... Or well I thought..._ That's great."

Tenten wasn't oblivious to Neji's reaction, and looked down, feeling guilty. "_Did I hurt his feelings...? I thought he didn't like me._"

-------

Sasuke walked alone down the street side with his hands tucked deep into his pockets. He had his eyes shut, and his typical angry expression. He heard someone yelling from behind him, and turned back, slightly annoyed. Off in the distance, he saw Kiba and Hinata running up to him. He paused and waited for them to reach him.

Kiba got there first with a smile on his face, "Hey! What's up? Where you going?!"

Hinata lagged along, and stopped at a distance, letting her shyness get the best of her. She stood still, scared of Sasuke with her hands up at her mouth. She was probably one of the only girls who didn't like Sasuke.

Sasuke looked at Kiba without answering, but from his expression, it was clear he wanted him to go away, only Kiba didn't get it. "...well?"

Sasuke looked down to the ground, and shut his eyes, "...Go away, Kiba."

Kiba looked back, a little irritated, but knew his place between them, and sucked it up. "...Fine." He turned back to Hinata, still looking over his shoulder in the direction of Sasuke, "_He scares the crap out of me when he's mad._" He walked up to Hinata, and looked over to her, "...Let's get out of here..." Hinata nodded, and headed off with him.

Sasuke watched them as they walked off silently, "_Humph... I'm fine by myself..._"

As he walked through the city, he noticed the gathering in the center of town, and decided he should probably attend. He headed up, following the crowds, until he noticed Sakura and Ino, fighting rabidly with each other. He kept walking up to them, until he noticed Naruto and Shikamaru separating them, respectively.

When Sasuke reached, both Sakura and Ino shot up blushing, "Sasuke-kun! Hi!"

Naruto and Shikamaru turned pale, and their faces grew long, "_...are you serious... they still have the hots for him..._"

Sasuke smirked and looked away, "What's going on around here?"

"Oh, there's just some thing for Genins going on... but what's new, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura said, still glowing.

"...I just got here... so nothing really... you?"

She looked away nervously, because she needed to tell him all about her and Naruto's relationship, "...oh, well, a lot... I guess..."

Naruto bested into the conversation with every shed of obnoxiousness he had, while holding up his pinky, "Me and Sakura are this!"

Sakura bashes Naruto over the head again, "Idiot! You should have let me tell him!" Sasuke stood their emotionless on the outside, but his eyes widened as he watched them together.

"_How could she date that idiot...? He's taking everything from me...!_" He cringed and clinched his fist tightly, "_...but why should I care...? It's just that annoying Sakura, he can have her..._" He looked up at her, as she was consoling Naruto from her punch to his skull, and he felt a stabbing pain in his chest, "_...why the hell!?_" He turned away boorishly and began to walk away, "Humph, I'm going."

Sakura turned her head, a little surprised, "Sasuke-kun, wait!" But he kept walking away anyways, without saying a word. "_...I'm sorry Sasuke-kun..._"


	28. Genin Unite Again

Section 28 – Genin Unite Again

Sakura walked solemnly along with Naruto, Shikamaru, and Ino. Ino was bouncy and bubbly while she was attached to unenthusiastic Shikamaru's arm. He rolled his eyes as she continued to squeeze relentlessly, while giggling adorably. Naruto walked along the outside of the pack, peeking over to the desolate Sakura with concern, "_What's wrong with her anyways... she's been acting weird since Sasuke was here..._ Are you ok Sakura-chan?"

She failed to lift her head, but rather shifted it incredibly slightly towards him, "I'm fine. Don't worry, Naruto." She sounded no better than she was looking, and Naruto sighed sadly and looked back ahead frowning.

"_What'd I do? Did I make her upset? Probably..._" The four continued walking, and reached a city intersection, where another wall of people blocked the view of the village's center. "Damn it! Is there anywhere we can see?!" Naruto looked back and forth angrily and impatiently, until he noticed something to his left. "Ah-reh? Eh! It's Lee! HEY LEE!" Naruto began to jump up and down, trying to gain the attention of the distant Lee.

Lee, Tenten, Shino, and Romi all walked up together waving back at the mentally challenged Naruto. Naruto stopped when he noticed the new face of Romi, who was significantly holding hands with Shino.

Naruto lifts his arm and points forward, with a baffled look, "...Who's that there with Shino...?" The other three look over with curiosity, and wait for them to get close to ask.

"Shino...who's the girl..."

Romi looked up and turned away blushing with bashfulness. Shino looked over at her, then turned his head back to Naruto, "Her names Romi, she's from my clan..."

Naruto interrupts him as he spoke, "She's a female Shino?!"

Shino sighs, "If you want to look at her that way..."

Naruto whips himself around so he's in front of Romi, and gets all up into her personal space, startling her, "HI! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Future Hokage of Konoha, and hey! You're pretty for a Shino-girl!"

Shino's eyebrow rose, with an offended grunt, "_...so he's saying I'm ugly!?_"

Sakura grabs Naruto by his outfit with a fuming scowl, "Who's pretty?!?!"

Naruto closes his eyes and laughs nervously, "Hehe, you of course Sakura-chan!" In an obviously lying tone, "Who else would I be speaking of?! Hehe...! Heh..."

Romi curled up blushing, "Thank you... you're cute yourself... Uzumaki Naruto."

Shino and Sakura lashed back, with their eyebrows twitching in rage. Inner Sakura blew up over Sakura's image, "_Oh... NO SHE DIDN'T HIT ON MY MAN!_" Inner Sakura lit on fire, flailing her arms and fists in anger.

Shino stared at Naruto, as his glasses gleamed in an intimidating way, "_...This... is unacceptable Naruto...!_"

Naruto smiled in a flattered fashion, before his expression dissolved into astonishment, "Huh? Tenten, why are you holding Lee's hand?"

Shikamaru, Sakura, and Ino all flung their heads towards the two to see for themselves, then the trio flung back pointing, "LEE HAS A INCHUUNOONA!?"

Lee looked back, offended and hurt, "Hey... why is that so surprising?"

All of them, with exception to Tenten, hung their heads down, "_...He doesn't own a mirror...does he...?_" Sweat drops rolled down their heads all simultaneously.

Neji walked up, and told Lee coldly, "You're ugly... that's why." Everyone, one by one looked up at Neji in shock at his cruelty.

Lee looked up sadly, "Awww... Neji, that was cold... I know I'm not the best looking, but Tenten loves me!" He joyfully wrapped his arm around the blushing Tenten.

"Humph... you think so...?" He peered over to Tenten with darkened eyes, "...Are you really that desperate Tenten?" She widened her eyes, which suddenly began to build up with tears, "...I thought so..."

"Neji!" Naruto dove forward shaking his fist in front of Neji, "...what's the big deal?! Why are you being so mean?!"

Choji appeared out of nowhere, scaring both Ino and Shikamaru, who were engaged into what was going down in front of them. He was eating, as usual, before he looked forward once again and noticed what was going down. "_What a bad entrance..._"

"Butt out... this has nothing to do with you." Neji looked over to Lee, who looked as if he had been scarred emotionally, "...stop being naïve, Lee..." He turned away blankly, "...you know how things are... you just don't fit in this role... give it up."

Naruto jumped up obnoxiously, "You bastard! I thought you would learn by now! No one has to go with what is only given to them! They work hard for it with everything they have!" He cringed in anger, "...And what you're saying is bullshit!" Neji looked back, except he seemed to be slightly broken by Naruto's words now.

"_I... hope you're wrong, Naruto..._" He looked over to Tenten, curled up with Lee. "_You have to be wrong!_"

"Eh, what the hell are you screaming about now, moron?!" Flying in was Kiba with Akamaru perched on his shoulder and a jerky smile across his face. Hinata landed shyly, far behind him in the background.

She looked over from a distance, and noticed Naruto in the crowd, "_Naruto-kun! He's here!_" She stepped back nervously, and turned bright red while curling up in fright.

Shino noticed her behavior, "_Hmm... so she still has feelings for him... Poor Hinata_."

Naruto starts yelling viciously, while letting spit fly into Kiba's face, "Eh?!?! Mind your own business wiener dog!"

Kiba looked back angrily, but was interrupted by Ino before he could retaliate, "Hey! Everyone's here! ...oh... well, except Sasuke-kun..." Sakura looked down sadly to the ground when she thought about what Sasuke was doing.

Neji huffed smugly, "You guys don't notice..." The group all looked back in surprise, with exception to Shino, who knew as well. "... He's already here..." Neji pointed up to the top of the building, where Sasuke sat at the edge facing away from them. Sasuke turned when he noticed they had spotted him, and leaped down to the group.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura stepped forward with a hopeful smile on her face, "...you didn't go after all!"

"I had nowhere to go..."

Sakura smiled, "You're always welcome here Sasuke-kun! Were here for you!"

Naruto launched forward next to her, "Damn straight Sakura-chan! Sasuke, together we make the ultimate team!" Sasuke looked at Naruto in shock, then smirked pleasantly.

"_Naruto..._" Sakura smiled happily, "_...that was very cool..._" She blushed in his direction, "_...that's why I love him... those moments where he's amazing._"


	29. End Notes

Section 29: The Ending Notes

The original nine Genin were all together for the meeting now, including a new face in Romi. After a long night of romantic difficulties, they all ended up together as friends in the end... even if their ties weren't as tight as they wished they could be for some. What about those lonely genin though?

Neji appears with his arms crossed, and his eyes narrowed.

Sasuke appears with his eyes closed and aimed to the ground solemnly.

Hinata appears with her arms held to her mouth, still blushing uncontrollably.

Choji appears stuffing his face with chips and candies.

Kiba appears with a stupid look on his face, along with Akamaru on top of his head.

Who will make their move first... and draw romantic chaos...? Love works in mysterious ways in the end...only time will show its great plan.

THE END

------

Note: Do NOT get chapped because I left this open ended, my next story will clarify on the open topics at the end... and I also apologize to whoever got bummed about their pairing not happening, I can't do them all without some Jerry Springer shit going down.

If this seemed open ended, read my other story for a continuation of this one. The story is called "The Hidden Village Talons" and oh yes... there will be conflict with love... and those lone characters will be accounted for... '


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